とある魔術の禁書目録 : 代わりの聖書 (To Aru Majutsu no Index : Alternative Testament)
by WiliamZ0
Summary: Alternate Story, A New Adventure. What happened if Touma lost some of his memories, Mikoto know something about magic side, Accelerator knew Kamijou Touma ... and another 'What If' Situation? Let's see them here! UPDATED Ch 11!
1. Prologue 1

"Eh? Damn it! Damn it! Arghhh, such misfortune!"  
"OI BRAT! COME BACK HERE!" The sound came from a certain crowd, who was chasing after this certain person.

Though he had realized that his frantic shouts must have made him sound like a maniac; the spiky black hair boy, Kamijou Touma, had no intention of stopping his headlong flight after running about two or more kilometers. While fleeing down a back alleyway late at night, he glanced back over his shoulder.

There are eight people, who still chasing him until now; their number already reduced about half compared from before, but he still continue to run for his life.  
He actually learned a bit or two on martial arts from his friend, a silver hair boy who happened not in the city right now but, Kamijou Touma knew that he didn't even have a slight of chance against their numbers if he chose to stay and fight.

To begin with, a fight between high school students that exceeds 3-on-1 wasn't even worth mentioning. The things before, like true strength and such, were useless in the first place.

The group of delinquents was completely shaken off; the ones who had lost sight of Touma could use their mobiles to call for reinforcements and possibly also a bike.

For the sake of making them collapse from exhaustion, Kamijou Touma had no choice but to bait the struggling pursuers into running in order to wear them out moderately. It could be linked to boxing, letting your opponent hit you recklessly in order to drain his physical strength. Touma's motive to the end was assuredly an "act of mercy".

It was certainly useless to fight, and it considered a "victory" if the enemies were shaken off and made to give up. After all, Touma was very confident in long-distance running. Plus, the pursuers were in poor health from drinking and smoking and were wearing boots: footwear of zero functionality. Furthermore, disregarding the pace and the need to fully sprint to keep up, basic long-distance running was certainly not possible for them.

He kept on running from one alleyway to the next as more people kept joining the group until he couldn't recognize their shapes. While also thinking of a perfect "nobody gets hurt" solution,

"Sh, shit... why I must put my youth on the line for this!"

Touma kept running, and kicked a slightly dirty polyethylene bucket driving a black cat away.

July 19 ... Yeah! 19 July is bad day indeed!

_*Flash Back*_

**At a certain classroom,**

A seem-to-be 10 years old child was talking to all high-school students in that classroom She is actually 1st Year 7th Class's Homeroom Teacher , Tsukiyomi Komoe. She's also a very well-known person in that school since she looked...**far too** younger than her age.

Komoe started an announcement "Tomorrow shall be the start of 'The Fun Summer Vacation'!"

Everyone in the class only focus in this word and they weren't listening the next announcement that their loli homeroom teacher said. After she announced her final words, everyone stood up, celebrating and started going out to enjoy their hard won summer vacation.

"What to do from tomorrow onward?" asked Touma to himself happily. His friends come to him, a blonde hair boy and a blue hair boy. Tsuchimikado Motoharu and Aogami Pierce.

"Ah! I really want to spend the vacations with the girl! Too bad all of them reject me! Especially the last two!" said Aogami with sad tone, but he seemed happy enough from Touma's view.

"I already know that the last two girls will reject you!" said Touma to Aogami while looking at the two girls that Aogami means. A girl with rather 'big asset', Fukiyose Seiri and a black hair short-girl, Nakatsugawa Miyu. Both of them were well-known as Iron Wall Girl and A Totally Bro-Con.

About the reason ... well ... Let's get back to the conversation...

"Yeah! Too bad in this summer vacation, we still have our supplementary class" explained Tsuhimikado, who butted in

_(... supplementary class?) _These words started spinning in his head.

They realized their Sensei (teacher) started to go out and greet her for final time. "Komoe-Sensei, Good Bye!" said them in unison  
"Good Bye Aogami-Chan, Tsuchimikado-Chan and Kamijou-Chan! See you tomorrow!" said their Sensei for the final time.

_(... Wait! See you tomorrow?)_

Touma showed confused face and he finally decided to ask her. Komoe realized it and said "Eh? Weren't you listening? Tomorrow is school for those who were selected for supplementary classes."

Touma couldn't believe what he heard just now and flinched back after hear Komoe, who kept continue her speech "At this rate you are going, you will retain this year ... particularly ... getting zero for 'Kaihatsu'"

'Kaihatsu' ... It is a special curriculum in Academy City. Looking from the surface there are _[Kirokojutsu]_ and _[Ankijutsu]_

Either through the usage of the medicine and stimulation to the living body or through hypnotizing; It can unlock a person's 'supernatural power'. The power of each person is different ... it based on individual's qualities and differ greatly from person to person. If the curriculum is done in an ordinary basis, then most of the students will be able to bend a spoon.

This is another side of Academy City! "A Facility to unlock this potential"

Heard the shocking announcement from his teacher, he started leaving his classmates and wondering at the street; Kamijou Touma ended up at a restaurant. He went there after read 'Summer's Special Menu' with a very cheap price. It was understandable since he was ordinary high school student with 'limited' budget.

After waiting his order for a quite long time, he finally gets it. Right before he ate it, a misfortune happened and he totally soaked with other orders that happened landed on his place. After cleaning himself and started eating his order once more, he heard a gang that surrounds a Tokiwadai middle school girl.

... And after that...

_*Flash Back Ended*_

About another two kilometers later, with a continuous flow of sweat and tears, he finally left the urban area, and a large river came into view. There was a large iron bridge spanning over the river; its length was about 150 meters. There were no cars around. Right up ahead was the irreplaceable rustic iron bridge, which was painted out in the night sea's eerie darkness. While crossing the iron bridge of the night, Touma looked back over his shoulder and stopped. Because before he knew it, his pursuers had already disappeared.

"Damn... At last, they've scattered ... But again ... I hope they're safe ..." said Touma to himself while looking to the front once more.

Suddenly something comes to him with a very high-speed; Kamijou Touma turned back and he brought out his right hand. The attack immediately disappeared after making contact with his right hand. He saw a brown-short-hair girl, who is wearing a gray pleated skirt, a short-sleeved blouse, and a summer sweater, comes to him.

"Who do you think you are? Pretending to be a humanitarian, protecting the delinquents... Are you a certain enthusiastic school teacher?"

Kamijou Touma letting out a sigh and looked at her "I know something weird is going on ... I never guess they already 'handle' by you."

"You are an idiot! Don't you know who am I? I'm one of the 7 in Academy City known as 'The Level 5'?" explained the girl. Touma kept sighing and he turned back, tried to leave the girl. The girl called him back and Touma looked at her. She brings out an arcade coin

"Hey! Do you know 'railgun'?"

Touma shook his head and the girl flipped the coin up with her thumb.

*Ping!*

"The theory of launching a metal shell via an ultra-powerful electromagnet is the same as that of a linear motorcar - except for the fact that it's like a warship weapon." the girl continued

*Hyun hyun*, the rotating coin landed on her thumb again.

"Right! Something like this?"

Simultaneously, those words went and all of a sudden and without a sound, an orange spear of light horizontally pierced through an area near Touma's head; calling that spear a laser beam would be more accurate. Because he saw a single trail of that light's after image stretching from the girl's thumb, he deduced the origin of the beam to be there.

Just like lightning, a thunderous roar reverberated a moment later. A shock wave, tearing at the atmosphere, occurred near Touma's ears and threw off his sense of balance. The staggering Touma glanced behind him.

The instant the orange light crashed into the iron bridge's road surface, it was as if an airplane above the sea made an emergency landing and blew the asphalt off. The orange afterglow, which spanned thirty meters straight to the opposite side and did all sorts of destruction, was still scorching the atmosphere with its after image even after its movement stopped. The bridge of iron and concrete rocked back and forth like an unreliable suspension bridge.

*Gagi!*, *bishi!*, the sound of metal bolts popping out and flying here and there reverberated.

"Don't tell me you use that to 'handle' them…did you Biri-Biri?" asked Touma calmly to the girl.

"Yeah! AND MY NAME IS MISAKA MIKOTO, IDIOT!" shouted the girl angrily even though Touma only joked and knew that she won't use it against that group of delinquents, who chasing Touma before. She letting out a sigh and suddenly sent her electricity attack to Touma "There is still one person left!"

Touma immediately dodged the attack only for another attack to come at him, making he pointed his right hand to the attack. However the attack gone and he is alright, not even a wound at his body.

"What is this? Why aren't you hurt at all?" asked the girl as her face showed some sweating while looking at him with sharp glare. Touma letting out a sigh. That girl was always like this. Even though they had met each other sporadically for close to a month, no one of them that remembered the name of the others; in other words, he didn't mean that they had become friends.

He showed his right hand while saying "Imagine Breaker, an ability to erase any supernatural power, even the miracles from god"

The girl shouted back "What the hell? No way has such ability existed. There even no such ability being recorded also in Academy City 'bank'. You must be made it up!"

The 'bank' referred to the database of abilities in Academy City.

"If I am a 1-in-328,571 **prodigy**, then aren't you, the only one in Academy City, a 1-in-2,300,000 **disaster**?" shouted the girl. She started attacking Touma with many lighting attacks. Touma's right hand kept blowing off that girl's lightning attack which reached up to hundreds of millions of volts.

"...Even so, I always lose to someone, who keeps claiming that he is a Level 0!"

The girl muttered bitterly. Touma didn't even reply with a single word because kept concentrating his vision to the attack.

_(To use the negating effect, I must make sure the attack's effect is transferred towards the parts that are on the right hand ... other than that ... the result will be _**'DEATH'**_)_ thought Touma as he started sweating a lot and negated the attack

"Fukou Da !" shouted Touma as he kept negating the attack.

* * *

**Several Minutes Later,**

For 30 minutes of lightning strike and some Railgun from the Level 5 girl named Misaka Mikoto; the two seemed too exhausted and Misaka Mikoto decided that she has enough.

"Why don't you burnt to death!" She shouted as she charged her last Railgun attack.

*Bachi* *Bachi*

"Umm..." Before Touma could say anything, he received another powerful attack from her. Fortunately, he successfully dodged this attack perfectly by rolling to side.

_(Oh god! If that Railgun hit me, I'll be dead)_

Touma thought as he looked at his right hand. He started smiling. Misaka Mikoto asked Touma again, "W-Why? Wh-Who are you!"

There is no other chance than relying to his own acting skill. Mikoto heard a certain laugh from Touma, a laugh that seemed so evil "Fu...Fu...Fu... AHa...Ha...Ha..."

Misaka Mikoto could only startled at his laugh and that boy only said, "This is somewhat ... **unlucky**, you know."

Touma continued while walking to her "But your attack didn't injure me, but there is one thing that is also important for you to hear."

He looked at her with somehow an evil glare "YOU SERIOUSLY FAILED TO HURT ME!"

Misaka Mikoto started sweating a lot and takes a step back. Her leg hurt and she kept looking at Touma, she finally shouted to her opponent  
"Is that so... then...TAKE THIS!" Misaka Mikoto prepared her powerful lightning strike that gonna engulfed the entire bridge that night.

_(WAIT A SEC-)_

_And that how July 19 ended ..._**But you wouldn't know what will be happened next right?**

* * *

**July 20, the first day of summer vacation.**

Within a certain one-room dormitory in "Academy City", where the air conditioning was shot, hot air flows entirely throughout the closed space, rendering Kamijou Touma unable to do anything.

"Ugh...Hot ..."

Kamijou Touma finally woke up, thanks to the heat. He opened his balcony's door to give his room more fresh air and turned on the television and what he got is the horoscope that flashed past the edge of the television screen, coupled with the weather report.

[Born between January 20 and February 18, you're unstoppable, Aquarius! No matter what it is! Love, business, or luck! No matter what you do, there will always be a good result. So, go buy a lottery ticket! However, don't go playing 3-D or 4-D games just because you're popular with girls, and…]

Kamijou Touma immediately turned off the television after see it.

"Okay, okay… I knew this would be the result, I knew it."

He looked at his room and outside and realized almost every electrical appliance broken. The reason was yesterday's lightning strike destroyed more than 80% of the city's electrical appliances in Academy City, including the freezer that stored all of his food. It all thanks to his meeting with crazy middle-school girl named Misaka Mikoto, one of two Level 5 from Tokiwadai and one of 7 Level 5 in Academy City.

"Fukou da... I better be careful if I meet her again." Touma said to himself once more.

He went to his kitchen because he wanted to eat a bowl of instant noodles, only to spill the contents into the basin. Alright, he should go out and eat, then. But while he was looking for his wallet, he stepped on his ATM card, breaking it. He intended to continue sleeping, only to receive an affectionate call from his homeroom teacher, and hear, "Stupid Kamijou-Chan! It's time for remedial lessons."

He remembered the last horoscope that he watched "I knew it! I knew that this would be the result… But can't I complain about it…?"

The horoscope is never accurate. He couldn't get any effects from the "little magic"; this is the daily life of Kamijou Touma.

At first, he thought that this bad luck ran in the family, only to find out that his dad got the fourth-place prize on a lottery before (around 100,000 yen). His mom once won continuously at the vending machines, and ended up playing with it non-stop. He suspected whether he wasn't blood-related to them, but after thinking about it further, he remembered that he doesn't have a sister, and there isn't any "succession line" to choose from.

How would they deal with it anyway?

Anyway, Kamijou Touma is unlucky…so unlucky that his life is an utterly big joke. However, Kamijou Touma won't be pessimistic forever. Touma never, ever relies on "luck", which made him extremely adaptable.

"Alright…right now, I need to settle the ATM card and the fridge."

Touma scratched his head as he looked around the room. He could replace the ATM card as long as he had an account. The trouble is the fridge. Good thing, he already prepared some money if something like this happened. However, the most pressing issue was this problem: how the heck is he going to have his breakfast? Besides, those supplementary lessons are power development programs, so he'll be forced to eat some tablets or products or the like; it won't feel good when he's hungry.

* * *

**Several Hours Later**,

"I've said I don't want to fight you, Biribiri!" A certain boy started screaming while being chased that evening.  
"FIGHT WITH ME NOW! AND MY NAME IS MISAKA MIKOTO!" A certain girl named Misaka Mikoto chasing a boy named Kamijou Touma and possibly wanted a rematch. If one saw this, they might misunderstand the situation as 'A girlfriend who chasing his cheating boyfriend'. The boy only shouted, "FUKOU DA!" while evading and sometimes, negating the girl's attack.

Today is bad day indeed! Bad day like usual!

When he came late this morning, he got a punishment from his homeroom teacher. Thanks to someone (Aogami)'s mouth that saying about Touma's action that lazing around and looked outside; he managed to make his Sensei started crying and it never ended for good. Not only he gets angry and ominous glares from his classmates, they finally got out from school very late in the evening.

When he decided to go to the bank, he realized the bank closed so his unable to settle his ATM card's problem. While he was roaming and hungry, he tried to look for some good restaurant. His bad luck delivered him to someone who is no other than the girl who made Academy City's blackout. She started some provoking and Kamijou Touma decided to ignore her. However his action made her angry and ended chasing him. It's pretty much like the usual routine they done.

The chasing kept continue until Kamijou Touma was hit by something or yet, someone from above.

"Oi! Are you okay?" asked Mikoto, who was chasing Touma. Despite their arguing, it appeared she had some compassion. Mikoto realized something white on top of Touma. She thought it was someone's futon until they heard a sound of stomach grumbling.

"Hey you! Are you starving?" Mikoto asked Touma.  
Touma shook his head "Yeah! I am starving but that stomach rumbling's sound wasn't mine"  
They hear a voice from futon above Touma, "I'm hungry..."

Kamijou Touma immediately woke up and tried to throw 'the futon' away.  
"Uah! The futon is talking!" Touma shouted. But he stopped after realized it wasn't a futon. The so-called futon showed her face to him and said, "I'll be happy if you can feed this hungry Sister."  
"Wait, a...nun?" Mikoto said while looking at the person.  
"What is a nun?" asked Touma, followed by silence that filled the way.

* * *

**Awhile Later,**

Kamijou Touma carried the nun that he and Misaka Mikoto found before to his dormitory. It is because his dorm happened to be close from the place where they met her. **  
**  
"So this is your dorm huh?" Mikoto asked Touma while he was carrying the white nun at his back.  
"Why are you still following me Biribiri!" Touma asked her.  
Mikoto laughed a bit and said "Hahaha. Well- In case if I want a rematch, I can go to your dorm and ask there."  
Touma let out a sigh, he brought problem to his dorm. The three finally entered his room.

And so, they finally started the conversation with Touma started first  
"So what's your name?" Touma asked her with Mikoto sit next to him, facing the white robed nun.  
"Indekkusu ... Just call me … Index Librorum Prohibitorum." The nun named Index finally told her name.  
"Index? Is that supposed to be a name?" Mikoto puzzled.

Index tried to explain that she is a nun-in-training from English Anglicans; when she wanted to continue her introduction, Touma realized that Index still not eat anything

"You two stay here! I'm going to get some food." Touma headed to the kitchen.  
Touma opened his fridge, there is only already destroyed fried vegetables and still fresh carrot.  
_(I just can't give the already destroy vegetables to that nun right?)_  
He decided to take out the carrot and took it while headed back to the two.

"Well, this is all I ha-Oi!" Touma want to say, but Mikoto immediately grabbed the carrot and said "This is enough. Okay, Index! Take it!"  
Index seemed happy and immediately gives pure innocent smile.  
"Itadakimasu!" Index said while she bites the carrot directly including Mikoto's hand.

"OUCH!" Mikoto shouted in pain.  
"Oi oi! Are you okay Biribiri!" Touma asks and tried to get Index stop biting Mikoto's hand until his right hand touches Index's robe. Suddenly, what was a nun's robe that Index wears suddenly break into several pieces, only the headdress on her remains intact, but that's probably because it's not attached to the clothes.

However, as a whole, this makes it a bit more insulting.  
"O-Oops..."

Index who realized it immediately looked at Touma and ... *CHOMP*  
She already bites Touma's head, pain and the pain is accumulating to Touma's head. The next thing can be heard inside that room is screams of pain from a certain boy "FUKOU DA!"

* * *

After Index's robe is 'destroyed' by Touma's right hand, she 'repaired' it with the help of Misaka Mikoto. Leaving Touma alone, handling lots of bitten wounds in every inch of his body.

'I-I'm sorry for-UARGHH!" Touma was hit by his own alarm clock before he even wanted to apologize to Index; this is surely a bad luck for him. But it all actually not his bad luck. Yeah! It is his fault.

"How could you even say that after you try to molest a nun!" Index shouted angrily to Touma with an angered tone.  
"WHO SAID I'M MOLESTING YOU!" Touma shouted back.  
But in reply, he got punched on the head by Mikoto and comes with her saying, "Shut up! Pervert!"

"Fukou da..." Touma muttered while started crying and isolating himself.

But, he and Mikoto have a thought after seeing Index clothes torn into pieces by Touma's right hand  
_(If that robe of hers is shredded by my right hand, could it be that she is an ESPer too? But I never hear and saw something like this before... Somehow, I can feel it ... It isn't ESPer ability) _Touma thought.

_(Wait, is she's an ESPer? I saw that guy just touch her clothes and suddenly shredded without any effort... who is she really?)_ Mikoto also thought about it herself.  
While both drown in their own thought, Index finished 'repairing' her clothes but this time, with only pins that holds it together.  
"I'm done!" Index exclaimed while turned back and shows her 'new clothes'.

Touma looked at her clothes with lots of pins and said, "What's that supposed to be? Iron Maiden?"  
Index sighed, "Well, thanks for everything, I have to go now."  
She tried to get up and went towards the front door before being stopped by Touma and Mikoto.

"W-Wait! Why?" Mikoto asks her.  
Then Index said, "Actually, I'm being chased by magicians from a Magic Cabal."  
Both Touma and Mikoto said with confused faces "Magicians? Magic Cabal?"

In Academy City, where everything able to be explained by science; existence of magic thought as another supernatural powers. Supernatural powers within this Academy City are quite normal. Everything can be explained by science, so who can deny its existence?

Index tried to explain to them but they still not believe it, Touma and Index even kept arguing.  
"There can't possibly be magic in this world", he has an "unrealistic" power that defies all logic.  
…But he can't make a baseless conclusion of "since there's such an inexplicable force in the world, maybe magic really exists" just like this

"…Magic exists!" shouted Index who tried to defend her argument.  
Touma sighs proved that he finally give up "Alright, I'll just assume that magic exists."  
"'Assume'?"  
"Yes, let's assume that magic exists."

Mikoto only nodded and asked her once more "You say you being chased. Who? Why?"  
Index only said "I don't know where they are form, but they are dangerous people who you two should not be mess with."  
She kept continued "I believe they're after the 103,000 grimoires I possess."

The silent atmosphere covered the place. Touma decided to say first "Alright, I'll summarize it. I don't know what these 'grimoires' are, but they're books, right? Like a dictionary?"

"Mm. 'The Book of Eibon', 'Lemegeton', The Nameless Book, The Cannabalism Ritual Book, The Book of the Dead… these are the representative ones. The Necronomicon is too famous, and a lot of imitations out there, so that one isn't as notable." answered Index

"Um… I don't really care about the books' contents…"  
Touma wanted to say "they're just nonsense anyway", but forced himself to swallow these words.  
"You said that you have a hundred thousand; where are they?"

In any case, he has to make this clear. 100,000 books can cover an entire library.  
"Do you mean that you have a key to a big warehouse?"  
"No."

Index shakes her head and says, "I have all 103,000 books."  
_(…What?)_ Touma frowned. Mikoto understood something "You must be have a Photographic Memory to remember all of them"

Touma immediately looked at Mikoto "What is this Photographic Memory?" asks Touma. Mikoto explained to Touma and he finally understand her explanation. Index seemed happy and she decided to leave them, she didn't want to give more burden to them. Touma immediately stopped her and said "Wait! Isn't it safe to stay here than wonder outside right?"

Index shook her head and replied back, "If I'm stay here, they can detect me through detection of mana emitting from my 'Walking Church' ... No! They probably won't know since my 'Walking Church' destroyed. But this also makes me become the burden to you guys. So I decided to go away from here."

Mikoto and Touma silenced at her statement and the Index said them last words before she gone, "If that happens, would you two follow me even into the depths of hell?" and walks from his room until she is no more.  
"That's one weird girl..." Touma finally said after she's gone. Mikoto couldn't help but agree; the girl named Index, indeed weird one. Touma suddenly remembered something after looked at his wallet. There is still some money left there.

"Ah! I forgot to buy some groceries. So Biribiri, would you come with me to buy some groceries and besides, it's nearly past curfew right?"  
Mikoto wanted to say something, but she knew that she'll be late because she hasn't come back before the curfew begins and she decided to follow him to buy some groceries. It probably can serve as excuse to 'that woman'  
"Anyway~ after I buy some groceries, I'll accompany you to your dorm, Okay! I'll tell you dorm mother the reasons why you're late." Touma ensured her while preparing things to go to the grocery stores.

* * *

After buying some food and other supplies from a nearby grocery store, Touma was accompanying Mikoto back to her dorm.  
"So, what should I make for excuse huh?" Touma asked himself while thinking a perfect excuse for Mikoto's dorm mother when they arrived at her dormitory. Mikoto confused with the guy who beside her and decided to ask  
"Why would you even help me? I never do something good to you." asked Mikoto, confused by Touma's offer to give her dorm mother excuse for breaking a curfew.

"Hmm? Well, even you still chasing me and tried to kill me. At least I should help you like a man and besides, you're a girl." Touma said casually as if it's nothing serious. For the first time, Misaka Mikoto feels blushed, not because of her favorite Gekota but from this guy saying that she's a girl. Honestly she thought he would say that she is a tomboyish girl but instead, she's referred by him as a girl. _(No! No! No! I must fall! This must be excuse for him so he can escape from our duel! YES! It must be it!)_

They stopped after seeing a couple of cleaning robots gathered and hitting something on what they thought was a trash.  
_(Why are those robots gathered there?)_ Touma and Mikoto wondered and they got close to them. The robots left and the two looked at Index who's lying on the pavements. Touma decided to wake her up "Oi Index! Get up okay! It's not goo-" Before he can continue, he senses something sticky on his hand and realizes it is blood. Mikoto also noticed it and ran towards the lying Index and said, "Hey Index! Are you alright? Say something!"

The two heard someone saying "Geez, is Kanzaki overdoing it this time?"  
The two turned only to saw a man in black garment with a barcode under his right eye, smoking some cigars and looking at the two.  
"You kids should stay out from our business. Go home!" He said but Touma and Mikoto don't move.

"What have you done to her? Who are you!" Touma shouted at the man.  
The man laughed, "What have I done? I'm here to protect that girl." He said while pointing to Index.  
"Protecting...Index?" Mikoto confused at the man's explanation while looking at the injured nun.  
Touma gritted his teeth and shouted angrily "YOU CALLED PROTECTING HER! SHE'S INJURED!"  
The man said again, "Not 'her' but the knowledge inside her."

Touma and Mikoto suddenly remember what Index said about them of the 103,000 forbidden books in her head.  
"And also, I'm a Magician." The man proclaimed himself.  
The two looks at the man and said, "M-Magician?!"  
"Yeah, it'll be a nuisance if some bad guy get her and extract information from her... Imagine if that girl is drugged or even worse, they'll 'abuse' her just to get her information out of her poor brain." The man explained with his words provoked anger between him to Mikoto and Touma.

Touma stood up "I-I won't let you."  
"Huh?"  
"I said, I WON'T LET YOU TAKE HER!" Touma finally shouted.  
"IF YOU TOUCH HER, I'LL KILL YOU!" Mikoto shouted too with sparks arching over her body.

The man laughed at them "Are you both an idiot? You don't know whom are you facing with!" as he throws a flame ball at the two. Before it touched both of them, the flame ball lose its form and everything around explodes as if it's a volcanic eruption. The heat, flash, explosions, smoke, all of these arise. "Did I overdo it a little?"

The magician muttered to himself. The scene in front of him looked like it got bombed. Stiyl scratched his head. Before this, he confirmed it. As todays the first day of summer vacation, almost everyone living here has gone out to play. But if there are some people who's locked inside the dormitory and can't get out, that may be troublesome.

The view in front of him is blocked by black smoke and flames. However, there's no need to check whether both of them alive or not. That hit was a flame hell of 3000 degrees Celsius, and once the human body meets temperature of 2000 degrees Celsius and above, they'll 'melt' before they're 'burned'. The fate of those people was definitely like the metal handle that has melted into malt candy. It could never be removed from the wall, as if someone spat some chewed chewing gum.

Stiyl sighed while thinking, "Good thing I purposely angered him and got him away from Index. If he had used that heavily injured Index to shield himself, this would be a lot more complicated."

…Come to think of it, he can't go get Index now. Stiyl let out another sigh again. Even if it's Stiyl, he couldn't pass through the flame wall in front and get to Index. If there're stairs on the other side, he could have gone around and used that. But Index would be doomed if she's to get caught in the fire while he's making his way there. Stiyl shook his head reluctantly. After that, he tried to look through the thick smoke and said,

"Sorry for bothering you, but you failed. Looking at your standard, it seems like you can't beat me even if we fought 1000 times."

"Who did you say…can't beat you?"

The voice that came out of the flame hell causes the magician to freeze. BOOM! A vortex appeared, engulfing the surrounding flames and black smoke.  
It's like a tornado suddenly appeared in the middle of the flames and black smoke. Kamijou Touma was standing there while protecting Mikoto from the attack.

At first, the man shocked to see that his attack gone, "What the!"  
"…Really, that's right, what was I afraid of—"  
Touma irritatingly twisted his lips as he muttered to himself and looked at his right hand.  
"—Wasn't this right hand the one that destroyed Index's 'Walking Church'?"

To be honest, Touma didn't understand what is 'magic'. He didn't understand how it works, didn't understand what kind of convection was working in that invisible air. Even if someone is to explain it all to him, he would only understand about half of it. However, this idiot Touma knew one thing.

In the end, it's just a 'supernatural power'.

The bright red flames that were blown away weren't completely extinguished. The remaining flames surround Touma like a perfect circle, continuing to burn. But… "Get out of my way!"

Touma said this as he used his right hand to touch those flames. The magic flames that were above 3000 degrees Celsius in temperature vanish in that instant. It's like blowing out all the candles on a birthday cake.

The magician was standing there, unable to process what happened before. Touma started moving and make the magician surprised. The man understand something "I see! So you the one who destroyed Index 'Walking Church'. The ability to destroy any supernatural power huh? So, it's true. What is your name? Both of you."

"Kamijou Touma!" Touma said to him.  
"Misaka Mikoto! Level 5 ESPer!" Mikoto said her name too.

The man created another fireball, "Stiyl Magnus, but I usually have my own magic name."  
"Magic name?" The two wondered.  
Then he said, "Index's magic name is **Dedicatus545**_- The dedicated lamb protects the knowledge of the strong_, while mine..."  
He dropped his smokes and it turns into a large flame "**Fortis931**_- I prove why my name is the strongest here_"

"'Fortis'—when this word is translated to Japanese, it means 'strong'. However, the original language of this isn't important, what's important is that between magicians, shouting a sorcery name doesn't just mean we're about to use magic, it even means…"  
Kamijou Touma quickly takes another 2 steps forward. But the magician's smile doesn't disappear. Maybe to him, Touma isn't enough to make him stop smiling.  
"…A killing name."

Suddenly Stiyl muttering something and the fire started circling around him.

"One of the five elements that build the Earth, o great creator of flames…"

Stiyl's starting to break out cold sweat. To him, the boy that's wearing summer uniform and has the shape of a human may not be human underneath the skin, but some thick and mysterious material. Thinking about this, a chill moved through Stiyl's spine. And about the girl, he didn't need to care him; he must focus on the boy in front of him,

"The light of salvation that gives birth to life, the light of judgment that punishes evildoers … While bringing peace and stability at the same time, it also destroys the cold and dark misfortune… Fire is the name, sword is the title! ...Show yourself, Swallow thyself', turn it into power—!"

Part of Stiyl's priest robes started to part, and an inner force caused the buttons to pop out. *BOOM!* A huge explosion could be heard. It's the result of the flames absorbing oxygen. A giant fireball flied out from inside his coat. Also, it's not an ordinary fireball. At the center of the bright red flame, there's a 'core' that's as thick and pitch black as oil. The core looks human, and this ever-burning core makes one think about the seabirds being stained by oil after an accident on the sea.

"The name is 'Innocentius', the intention's 'to kill'."

The giant flame god with killing intent stretched its arms out, charging forward at Kamijou Touma like cannon. Mikoto immediately shot her electricity, but it totally useless against the flame monster. Touma decided to step in and moved his right hand once more like sweeping the fire monster from the area.

"DON'T GET IN MY WAY!"

The magician is defendless, but Kamijou Touma and Misaka Mikoto didn't take a step forward. Of course, there wasn't any obvious reason. Touma saw Stiyl continuing to smiling even after his trump card gone. This expression made Touma fearful of taking the last step forward so easily. As if he already trapped. The sound of thick liquid bobbling around can be heard all over the place.

"What—?"

Touma panicked as he took a step back. At that moment, the black foam gathered around from all over the place, and reformed back into a humanoid shape.

"What the ?"

The oil in the flames started to move and changed its shape. Finally, took the form of a giant wielding a dual-handed sword. No, that shouldn't be called a sword; that should be called a giant Cross that's over 2 meters long and could easily crush anyone to death. The giant raised the Cross with both hands and slammed it down on to Touma's head like a pickaxe.

Touma, who didn't know what's going on, realized something. This flame-body thing called 'Innocentius' did react to Touma's right hand. However, it could revive immediately after it destroyed. The time between destruction and revival is most likely not even a tenth of a second. His right hand ability's sealed.

No other choice, it seemed Touma can only ask Mikoto to bring Index from there.  
"Oi BiriBiri! Hurry up and bring Index from here! I will handle him." shouted Touma to Mikoto.  
"Are you an idiot! Let me help you!" ensured Mikoto as she tried to help him. She decided to shot the magician with her electricity but it blocked by the fire attack that brought out by the magician to defend himself.

This tense situation made him unable to turn back and ended relying Misaka Mikoto, who was the only hope that he can use. However, Touma could hear another voice, like robotic tone.

"—The 24 runes which symbolize 'mysteries' and 'secrets'…the Germanic people started to use magic language ever since the 2nd century AD. It's said that was the origin of English."

Though they can hear Index's voice, they're still unable to believe it. She is already dying, but why can she say such words so calmly?"

"—It's ineffective to attack 'Innocentius' head on. Without removing the 'rune seals' on the walls, floors, ceilings, and all sorts of places, it will continue to regenerate."

Kamijou Touma useed his left hand to grab on to his right wrist, barely managing to hold down the Cross while Mikoto looked at Index, but she still have her guard on against Stiyl. The girl still lied down there. However, Touma and Mikoto are unable to call 'her' Index, as the girl's eyes are emotionless like a robot.

"You…you…you're Index, right?" Mikoto tried to confirm.

Another fire attack came, but blocked by Mikoto's iron particle shield.

"Yes. I'm the magical library that's affiliated to sector 0 of the English Anglicans, 'Necessarius'. My proper name is Index Librorum Prohibitorum, but just calling me Index would be fine."

Seeing the magical library named Index has this meaning of existence, Touma and Mikoto feel chills through their entire body. Touma even forget that he's about to be crushed by the giant flame god.

"I've ended the self-introductions, so please allow me to go back to the explanations of the runes. Basically, they're like a moon's reflection on a lake…no matter how one uses a sword to cut it, it's pointless. If one wants to cut the moon on the water, the person has to destroy the real moon in the sky."

After Index said this, Touma remembered the enemy that's in front of him.

Does she mean that this wasn't the main body of this 'supernatural power'? Like the relationship between film and pictures, would the giant flame god continue to revive if the 'other supernatural force' that continues to create the giant flame god isn't destroyed?"

There's no magic in this world. This 'common knowledge' is already etched into every Academy City's citizen hearts. Also, his right hand is sealed by 'Innocentius'. Touma, who's trapped and can't move an inch, is unable to follow Index's instructions. Index's now lying in pool of her own blood, so she can't come over to help out.

Suddenly both of them realized something interesting, there are many piece of papers near Stiyl.  
"I get it! Hey Idiot! Hang on there for a little moment!" encouraged Mikoto. Touma showed his smile and nodded. "YEAH!"

_(What these kids thinking now?)_ Thought Stiyl; suddenly he realized the girl emitting electricity. _(That girl is indeed troublesome. I might need to take care of her too)_

"As long those paper gone! The monster also gone right! So …" said Mikoto as she zapped the fire alarm near her.  
A loud sound that sounds like an air raid causes Stiyl to inadvertently look up. Within a second, all the sprinklers on the ceiling start to let artificial rain fall down like a typhoon. _(Do they really think that this can douse 'Innocentius' flames?)_

Such a stupid tactic made Stiyl unable to laugh. But rather, as he's drenched, this made him really unhappy. He glared angrily at the deep red color of the fire alert equipment. It's easy to let the alarm ring, but it's impossible to stop it from here. Though there's practically no one living inside the student dormitory, this situation is a lot stickier the moment the firefighters arrive.

Touma and Mikoto showed victory smiles to him and Touma seemed not care about Innocentius now. This making Stiyl angry and shouted "Play time is over! Finish them right now! Innocentius!"

The giant flame god pulled back before tried to give another strike.

"Stop bothering me." Touma just said these 3 words, not even turning his head back. He swung a backhand, and the right hand that touches the giant flame god lets out a funny sound as the flame body exploded.

"WHAT?"

At that moment, Stiyl Magnus' heart nearly stopped.

'Innocentius', which scattered all over, didn't revive. The black oil-like pieces of meat were scattered all over the floor, slowly moving about.  
"HOW…HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? WHY DID THIS HAPPEN! PRINTING PAPER SHOULDN'T END UP LIKE THIS SO EASILY…!"

"But what about ink?"

Stiyl felt that it took 5 years for Touma's words to reach his ears.  
"Even if the printing paper doesn't get messed up, wouldn't the ink run off when the paper's wet?"  
Touma slowly said, "…Hm, but seeing that, it seems that there is a loophole!"

The fragments of 'Innocentius' moved about on the floor. But with the sprinklers continuing to spray this artificial rain, the black flesh dissolves into thin air. In this huge baptism in the rain, all the ink of the paper that was stuck all over the place in the building is taken away. The power of the giant flame god was vanishing little by little as well. The pieces of flesh vanish one by one…and finally, even the last one ends up formless.

"INNOCENTIUS…!" The magician's voice is now like one that's speaking into a telephone call that's cut off.

"And right now, all's left is…" Touma's words made the magician trembled. Kamijou Touma took a step forward and Mikoto gave him a room. "Inno…centius…"

The magician continued to call, but the world didn't give him a response. Kamijou Touma's feet continued to move towards Stiyl Magnus

"INNOCENTIUS … INNOCENTIUS …!"

The magician continued to shout, but the world didn't change. Kamijou Touma's feet were dashing towards Stiyl Magnus like a bullet. His punch hit Stiyl and almost made the magician unconscious, he even barely can stand. Touma decided to give him the last punch. Before he can attack once again, suddenly another person came in and the presences made Touma pulled back his fist.

"Hey Stiyl, what's happened here?" It was a female with a large sword on her belt. Stiyl relieved after looked at her, "Finally you come! Those guys are trying to stop us to get Index and managed to destroy my thump card."

The woman seemed surprised, and she looks at the two and said, "I'm sorry! But to evade any bloodshed, we must secure her."  
"WE WON'T LET YOU!" Touma and Mikoto were showing their resolutions.

The woman looked at the two and said, "I have no choice then…"  
She moves her hand towards the hilt of her sword and said, "Nanasen!"  
An invisible attack almost struck Touma and Mikoto, but Mikoto immediately realized it and protected them with her iron particle shield.

Before the Magician tried another attack, suddenly they and Mikoto with Touma heard someone said in a weak voice, not robotic tone like before  
"P-Please, d-don't fight...s-s-stop!" Index said in frail voice and fainted again but Mikoto caught her before she fell to the ground. The two Magicians stopped their attack and immediately left. Touma noticed their expressions, which were looking at Index with a sad face before they gone.

Is that the expression of someone's evil?

After they gone, Touma and Mikoto shouted to the injured Index, "Index! Index! Are you okay! Speak to us!"

* * *

Night. The sirens of fire trucks and ambulances resound as they pass through the main street. Even though the dormitory was empty, apparently there was someone who thought it was a good idea to trip the fire alarm and activated the sprinklers. In less than no time, the empty dormitory's surrounded by fire trucks and onlookers.

Touma touched the hood with his right hand to make it untraceable, and took it with him. He could have left it as it was and thrown it somewhere to fool the pursuers, but he thinks that stubborn girl would still want it. In the back alley, Touma clicked his tongue. Touma was carrying Index because he can't possibly let her wound touch the dirty ground. Mikoto suggested to Touma but bring her to hospital, but the idea rejected by Touma.

They can't let Index on an ambulance.

Academy City basically dislikes "outsiders", to the point where large walls were made to surround the city and three satellites constantly survey everything. If a truck delivering goods to a convenience store doesn't have an exclusive ID, their entry would be immediately rejected.

If an ID-less Index were to be admitted into a hospital, her information would be leaked in no time. The enemy is an "organization". If they get attacked there, the casualties will increase. Anyway, if Index gets targeted while getting treated - or worst-case scenario, while she's in surgery - she might as well be dead.

"Even though it's like that, I can't leave things as they are, can I?" asked Touma.  
"Then! What should we do? If we not stop this bleeding, she will be dead" replied Mikoto as she angry at Touma's decision.

Touma looked at Index. Her wound is not at the level where some amateur could bandage it up. Touma, who's used to fighting, would usually perform first aid on his "unspeakable wounds". Even to him, just looking at Index's wound would disturb him. The wound on her back is definitely severe. Because of this, she can only depend on them now. Touma still didn't believe it, but at this point, he has to.

"Hey, hey! Can you hear me?" Touma lightly pinched Index's cheek. "Aren't there any spells in your 103,000 grimoires that can heal wounds?"

When one talks about magic, Touma can only think of stuff like offensive magic and recovery magic from RPGs. Mikoto only looked at stupid idea that Touma has now and decided to ask the same thing "Is there any?"

"...There is, but..."  
Until Touma heard "but", he seriously felt like rejoicing.  
"It is impossible... for you." Index lets out a small breath.  
"Even if I teach you... the procedure, and you carry it out perfectly... Ouch... Your power will definitely interfere."

Touma looks at his right hand in astonishment. Imagine Breaker. The power that lies there without a doubt completely erased Stiyl's fire. If so, he'd also completely cancel Index's recovery magic.

"Dammit! Again... Because of this right hand again...!"  
"Then let me do it!" suggested Mikoto

She shook her head "You being an 'ESPer' are the problem."  
In this sweltering night, they started shivering as if they're on a snowy mountain.  
"Magic isn't something that... ESPers, 'those with talent', can use... Because 'those without talent' wanted to be able to do the same things as 'those with talent', they gave birth to a ceremony and practice called... magic."

"What are you trying to explain at a time like this!" Touma shouted.  
"You don't understand? 'Those with talent' and 'those without talent'... run on different circuits... 'Those with talent' cannot use magic designed for 'those without talent'..."

Touma became speechless. "ESPers" like Touma and Mikoto undoubtedly run on different circuits compared to normal humans. They take drugs and use electrodes to forcibly try to develop the brain. If one's talking about body composition, they're definitely different. But they don't believe this - no, they don't want to believe this.

There are 2,300,000 students living in Academy City. Furthermore, all these people are taking the Power Development "Curriculum". One can't tell by looking, but they've all strained themselves so hard, to the point where their brains' blood vessels would tear, just to get a spoon to bend - and they're only the weakest ESPers. Of course they're different from ordinary people.

In other words, there is not one person in this city that could use magic to save her. Even though there's a way of saving her right in front of him, no one can do anything.

"D-Dammit...!" Touma grinds his teeth like a beast. "There must be something. There must be something! Dammit. What the hell? How did things turn out like this...!" shouted Touma

_(What is this "those with talent" crap? I can't even save one girl in pain.)_

Mikoto went silent after heard the cruel reality, but she still tried to find another solution. They can't come up with any solutions. If the 2,300,000 students living in this city can't use magic, what else can he do? Touma thinks to himself, and remembers something (_Students?)_

"Hey, if it's any ordinary 'talentless' person, they should be able to use magic, right?"  
"...Eh? Yeah..."  
"It's not like 'It's no good unless they have talent in magic', right?"  
"It's alright... As long as they prepare and do it correctly... I think even a middle school student would be able to do it." Index thinks for a bit. "If they mess up the procedure, their brain and neural circuits will burn out... however, because my name is Index (103,000 grimoires), it's alright. There's no problem."

Touma smiles, he inadvertently looks up at the moon in the night sky. Certainly, all the resident students in Academy City have gone under ESPer development at some level. If one looks at it another way, the teachers who develop ESPer powers are just ordinary humans.

"I have the perfect person to do it!" shouted Touma as he started carrying Index once again. Mikoto confused but she can feel Touma found an answer.

"Biri biri, follow me! I know someone who can help us!" He shouted to Mikoto as he started running. Mikoto nodded and she decided to help him. "At least call me Misaka Mikoto instead of Biri Biri, Stupid!"

* * *

**The Next Day**,

Last night, they arrived at Komoe's place and asked her help. At first, Mikoto flabbergasted that she just saw the real one of 7 Academy City's mysteries. But since the situation is quite critical, she decided to forget it for now.

Komoe, at first decided to ask what actually happening, but she finally decided to help them and will ask the reason next time because Index was bleeding badly. The couple got out since Index explained that she can't have someone to interfere with the rituals that will be taking place. So the two went out and Touma bring Mikoto back to her dorm.

With several problems that happening, Touma almost having difficulty to handle Mikoto's scary dorm supervisor, who keep looking at him with her scary glare.

No wonder, Mikoto is very afraid of her.

She finally let Mikoto go and Mikoto suggested that they will visit Index tomorrow. Touma agreed and got out from there. Somehow, before he got out from there, he can feel ominous glare from someone but he decided to let it go. And the next thing happened after leaving the dorm was someone being shocked. Touma decided to ignore it and get back to his dorm.

The two meet up at Komoe's house that morning and visit Index at Komoe's home. Komoe decided to leave them alone.

"How are you doing, Index?" Touma asks Index who's wearing Komoe's pajamas.

Mikoto said to Touma while saw many beer cans and cigarettes in an ashtray, "Now that I see it. That sensei of yours maybe like small child; but looking at her room, it's like she's 30's or 40's somehow."

Touma laughed weakly at her statement; he looks at Index and asks "Index, could you explain what happened and why those people claimed that they are Magicians trying to hunt you down?"

Index started explaining them about magic and the two still disbelieve at first and but Index's wounds last night was gone. So they decided to believe at her.

"Index! If you need help, just asks us okay!" Mikoto said to Index with a smile.  
"You can count on me too, Index!" Touma also said while puffing his chest.  
Index smiled, "Thank you..."

"Misaka Mikoto." Mikoto said to her.  
"Kamijou Touma" Touma followed too, introducing his name. And the three talking together like they are close friends. Not far away from their friend place, two familiar people are watching them.

"It seems that she's having her fun with those two." Kanzaki said as she observes from far away.  
"That two brats huh? Too bad we have to take away her happiness…it is for a good cause." Stiyl said as he picks up another box of cigarette while Kanzaki looks at the three from faraway place with a sad face.

* * *

After talking each other for a while, Touma suggested the two to go to Onsen together.  
"So, how's life in England?" Mikoto asked after hearing Index tale of England.  
"Actually I never had been there before." Index said while walking with Mikoto with Touma next to her.  
"Never?" The two surprised.

"Actually when I woke up, I'm in Japan and can't remember anything in the past." Index said with a sad face.  
"That's why your Japanese is so fluent; but... to think you never remember anything in the past?" Touma said with a more surprised face with Mikoto too. Index realized something, "Wait, I need to do something first." She's leaving the two immediately without even Touma and Mikoto could say anything.

"Oi Index! Damnit!" Touma shouted. He looked at Mikoto and suggested his idea, "Let's chase her!"

She just nodded and followed Touma to find Index.

"Geez! Where is she gone to?" Touma asked himself while scratching the back of his head. He and Mikoto were looking a certain nun named Index. It seems Index gone after she felt something.

"She can't be gone this far." Mikoto confirmed while continued to search for Index. Touma looked at Mikoto, "I think we should split up. With that way, we will find her faster, Biribiri."

Mikoto shouted angrily at him "It's Misaka Mikoto! Idiot! Idiot!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I'm an idiot!" replied Touma before he noticed something weird. There is no sign of human and they are alone in this weird situation.

"Hey Biribiri! Do you notice something weird here?" Touma asks her and Mikoto realized something is out-of-place.  
"Yeah, this is seemed weird, no cars or people?" Mikoto asked before the two heard someone's footsteps.

A voice appeared out of nowhere saying, "Rune."  
The two instantaneously said and turned back immediately "Rune?"

A womanly figure appears; she was the magician's partner from yesterday. She is holding the hilt of her sword while saying, "Yes, a Rune which created a space that cannot be interfered to the outside world."

Both of them went silent before the women introduced her name "My name is Kanzaki Kaori"  
Touma shouted at her and asked her something, "Where is Index! What have you done to her!"  
"I've done nothing to her. If you two didn't involve yourself in this, she would never be hurt" Kanzaki said with a pity face.

She paused before she continued"... Just get to the main point like yesterday ... I wish to secure that girl before I mention my magic name."

"If not, Then what?" shouted Touma angrily to the women in front of them. Kanzaki suddenly swung her sword ... The next thing happened is ... Touma and Mikoto can fall something passed them and cut a windmill behind them become 2. Touma and Mikoto could feel that she is stronger than them. They looked back at the woman.

"I will repeat myself ... I wish to secure that girl ... before I mention my magic name."

Touma stood and looked at her with serious expression. He knew that this woman is dangerous, but he couldn't turn back from this point. To protect Index ... who he just met yesterday ... He shouted loudly and one can feel strong expression. "NEVER !"

"Don't screw with us!" Mikoto's turn to shout.

Kanzaki closed her eyes and opened it once more. "I think I must inform both of you ... We are also from English Anglicans, 'Necessarius'. Our higher-up ordered us to bring her back."

Hearing that they are from English Anglicans, 'Necessarius'; it means they are Index's friend, but why she run away from her. Touma glared at her, "Liar! You say you are from the same organization as her! It also means that you guys are Index's friend! Then... WHY she run away from you guys!"

Kanzaki stood there, silenced at Touma's question. She started talking while looked at both of them "I have no choice then ..."

Touma clenched his fists and Mikoto also prepared her own stance but Touma said to her, "I'll fight her...alone."  
"B-But, I can help you!" Mikoto tried to offer Touma her power to fight with the magician. But Touma shook his head and shouts, "I cannot see another person to be hurt!"

After Touma said that, he glared at Kanzaki. "One versus One. Are you Okay with that?"

Mikoto finally understood Touma's will and let him off for now "If the situation getting worse, I will join the fight."

"YEAH!" Touma looked at his opponent's carefully.

_(I couldn't see a single slash, but it must be magic right! If it so then ... with right hand of mine) _thought Touma while clenching his right fist once more. Mikoto started stand back and she wasn't hear what Kanzaki talked with Touma.

"I have been explain by Stiyl, that your right hand can naturalize magic ... But as long it doesn't contact with the attack, it won't destroy. Let me tell you ... This isn't attack that able to be stop by your right hand."

Touma started thinking something, but he leap to her without any thought and she started her attacks.

"Nanasen!"

"Wait a second! It not think thing you thought it is!" shouted Mikoto to Touma

Touma, thinking that the attack is magic and supernatural decided to use his right hand to block the attack but then he feels pain on his right hand and taken aback from her attack.

"Ugh!"

"Idiot!" Mikoto called at him, realizes that his right hand injured.

_(This feeling...)_ Touma looked at his right hand, which scarred by the attack and looked at Mikoto "Don't intervene!"

He stood up again and the same thing repeated several times. Mikoto started to get angry and joined the fight.

"Don't intervene! I will handle her … alone" shouted Touma to Mikoto.  
Mikoto scolded him "Can't you see? You won't be able to handle her alone!"

If Touma take Mikoto's help, he should be able to beat Kanzaki. Touma looked at Mikoto once again.

"I WILL! JUST SHUT UP AND STAND THERE!" shouted Touma and Mikoto finally stopped shouting at Touma. Mikoto froze. Come to think of it, this is the very first time that boy ever shouted angrily at her. Kanzaki looked at Touma "I don't understand what driving you to do this ... But just stop it ... You can't win"

Touma looked at her and smiled "... Ultra-thin wires ... It seems that katana of yours not just a decoration. I bet you hide these wires inside there."

Mikoto actually already realized what Touma meant after looked at Touma and Kanzaki fighting. He already surrounded by multiple wires ... ultra-thin steel wires in fact. Kanzaki replied without showing any expression "Yes! My Shichiten Shichitou is not an object for decoration. Better surrender now ..."

Touma stand up again despite the warning that Kanzaki gave earlier

"I see ... It seems you won't surrender with this kind of life-threatening condition" Kanzaki suddenly dashed to his direction and started delivering her attack ... Touma blocked it, but he could feel differences in physical strength between them. It made Touma hit the ground and wounded his body. Mikoto started screaming, but Kanzaki stopped when Touma managed to hold her katana. He started talking ... "In this kind of situation you can give me instant death ... But why you not do it ... You are still a person right?"

Kanzaki immediately stopped her attack and looked back at him ... hearing his speech "Then why would you have to hurt her! And worst, HURTING HER FROM THE BACK! Don't you know! She lost her memories because you guys! Chasing her while making her lost even her memories?" shouted Touma as he couldn't control his anger.

"... Yet, why is this only action you're talking ... with your power! You can save anyone ... WHY!"

Kanzaki started feeling complicated after heard Touma ... then she started speaking... "It's not ... I'm her colleagues and She is an important friend of mine ..."  
Little by little, she started explaining many things ... "I didn't intend to hurt her, especially slash her from back!"  
"I ... I didn't ... know that her 'Walking Church' had been destroyed" She said with a sad expression. Touma rememberED the robe that he 'touched' with his right hand and he felt regret.

Mikoto realized something and asked "... Wait! Why she think you guys as evil magicians if you guys are her friends …"  
Kanzaki looked at her "Because we erased her memories ... She didn't know who are we ... And she forced to make her own judgment ... That is logical to think magicians after 103,000 grimoires are from Magic Cabal"

Touma stood up and asked "Now you say it ... Index have perfect memories ... You erased her memories ... Is that the reason you tried to get her"

It seems simple. But if someone thinks it carefully, someone with perfect memorization ability shouldn't be able to forget something easily. Mikoto asked Kanzaki, "So, that is your real purpose to get Index?"

Kanzaki looked at them two. "Y-Yeah! Each end of the year, we have to erase her memories."

Touma and Mikoto shocked at what they heard, Mikoto started asking her for more information "W-Wait, erasing...memories? You guys do it? Why?"

"If we not ... she will die"

A single explanation from Kanzaki is like thunder in day ... Mikoto and Touma immediately frozen there. Kanzaki continued her explanation.

"The higher-ups said Index's brain is used store 85% of the forbidden text and 15% relegated to her own memories, if she cannot erased 15% of her memories by the end of each year, the higher-ups said that she will...die." Kanzaki explained the two about Index.

"She...will...die?" Touma asked as he gulped all his words after found the shocking truth.  
"I-Impossible! That totally impossible!" Mikoto shouted at her.

Kanzaki gave her silent statement. Touma gritted his teeth and said, "S-So, is this memory wipe is the only way to save her? Is there any other method to save her?"

Kanzaki didn't replied to his answer.

"When?"  
"3 more days."

Touma looked at her, he shouted at her ... "I know deep down there, you're still thinking another way to save her right? After all, INDEX IS YOUR FRIEND!"

Touma shouted at her. Kanzaki let out a sigh "Talking won't solve it. Better give her to us."

"No!"  
"Why?"  
"Index already our friend! We've always been her friend, and we always will be!"

Touma continued to talking "I always realized something weird behind your actions... Why you guys don't clear this misunderstanding! Why you leave ..."  
Kanzaki immediately shouts "Shut up you amateur!"

Touma stopped and Kanzaki still shouted "You don't know what we went through all this time by taking her memories ... How Stiyl feel after looked at both of you ... How he must dishonor himself!"

Kanzaki began her attacks to Touma once again, giving Touma no chance to stand up. Mikoto tried to join in just to be stopped by Touma, who doesn't want his fight intervene. Kanzaki finally shouts her magic name, "**Salvare000**"

And Touma kept attacked until he battered heavily by Kanzaki.

Despite Touma's warning earlier, Mikoto joined the fight and wiped Kanzaki's steel wires from the arena with her railgun. Kanzaki have no other choice than moved from where she stands or she would be wounded by Mikoto's Railgun. The girls started fighting with Mikoto kept continuing the attack and using her abilities to dodge Kanzaki's attacks.

Kanzaki continued her explanation as she dodged the attack from Mikoto.

"Don't you guys see! We couldn't handle it anymore ... we couldn't bear to see her smile anymore!" shouted Kanzaki with sad tone to already battered Touma and Mikoto. Kanzaki looked the lying Touma, but she's froze as Touma began to stand up even after receiving multiple hits that ordinary humans will die from it. Even Mikoto feels shocked to see him still stood.

"THAT'S WRONG!" Touma shouted. His will managed to freeze Kanzaki and Mikoto .

"I'LL MAKE YOU REALIZES YOUR OWN FOOLISHNESS FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO INDEX! THAT BULLSHIT LOGIC OF YOURS! I WILL DESTROY IT NOW!" He chargeD at the surprised Kanzaki. Kanzaki prepared another attack, but it was too late. She realized Mikoto done something to the steel wires. Touma punched her face very hard, she flown backwards and didn't move after that.

Kanzaki stood up again, it seems her wound after receive that punch didn't deep at all ... as she not wounded at all, but she looked back at Touma ... She won't hurt him anymore. Touma talked after he stand up. One can feel the emotion in each words Touma said. Like there isn't right and wrong, only a simple view. A way to make everyone understand the deep meaning behind his words.

"You didn't think her sake at all! Don't blame your own GUTLESSNESS on Index! If you scared to see her lose her memories ... Make even better and more blessed ones the next year! Let her conquer her fear of losing her memories this year! No one needs to run away anymore!"

"Are you protecting people because you have power ... It isn't! You acquire power because you want to protect something! That's all! Why you acquire power? Who want you protect with those hands? Then what are you doing here?"

The illusion that Kanzaki believe started cracking after hear it

"With that much power, with such a versatile power, WHY... WHY YOU GUYS ... ARE SO INCOMPETENT!" Touma caught his breath before he fall down on the pavement.

"Oi Idiot! Are you alright?! Speak to me!" Mikoto approached the battered Touma and tries to wake him up. Stiyl came to see Kanzaki and saw that Touma has down but decided not to finish him as Mikoto gave a glare to those magicians. "If you guys still wanted to fight, I will be your opponent!"

Sparks came out from Mikoto's body, she was ready to fight them. Instead of continuing the battle, they escape after Kanzaki told Styil something and the Rune effect disabled.

a voice came to Mikoto's ear, "Touma! Misaka!" It was Index.  
"Index! Where have you been?!" Mikoto asked her.

Index didn't reply her question. Mikoto wanted to ask more; but after saw Touma in an injured state, she has to stop questioning her and focused on bringing Touma back to Komoe-sensei's house.

* * *

**At Komoe-Sensei's house,**  
"Kyaa~! What happened to Kamijou-Chan!" Komoe surprised after seeing the battered and bruised Touma.  
"We got into a fight and this guy just goes hero and hurt himself in the process." Mikoto explained after putting Touma on a bed prepared by Komoe. After that, she looks at Komoe and said, "Komoe-sensei, I have to return to my dorm but I'll visit him tomorrow morning." and Komoe nodded.

She looks at Index and said, "Index, please take care of him before I returned tomorrow okay."  
Index also nodded and Mikoto immediately went out from Komoe's apartment and on her way, she muttered, "That idiot!"

* * *

_**Back again with WiliamZ0 and my remade story. Lots of changes made if you guys noticed it.**_

_**This also collaboration work between me and Fuji92, I hope you guys like it :)**_

_**PS: To people that thought my grammar is incorrect or whatever. I already asked someone to be my beta-reader, if it still not good enough and you guys think you can do better, lend me your help ^_^**_


	2. Prologue 2

Because he was thirsty and because the heat is killing him, Touma woke up.

"Touma?"  
When he realized that he was in Komoe-sensei's apartment, and that he had slept in a bed, he sees Index and Mikoto are looking at him. But, the one that surprised him was the sunlight shining through the window. He remembered correctly, he lost consciousness in front of the enemy and was defeated.

He didn't know what happened afterward, but the fact that he still alive and in Komoe's apartment. Touma didn't satisfy with the outcome at all. To be honest, he wasn't very happy with the fact that he is alive. He didn't see Komoe-sensei anywhere. It looked like she went to go somewhere. He decided to ask Mikoto about the current situation, and she just silent ... not even give a response.

On the table next to Index, there was a bowl of rice porridge. Index, who asked for food upon their first meeting on the veranda, probably didn't know how to cook. It was most likely Komoe-sensei who made it. But that prediction is incorrect, Index explains that Mikoto the one who made it, making Touma surprised and almost laughed. Feel insulted, Mikoto stroke him with countless lighting attacks, which ended negated by Touma's Imagine Breaker. Touma finally apologized to Mikoto and thanked her for saving his life.

"I feels like I'm a sick person," Touma moved his body. "Ouch… what's this? The sun's already up. Has it already been one night? What time is it?"  
"Not one night" Mikoto answered seriously while looking him. Touma raised his eyebrows and realized Mikoto's expression; it showed sadness and regret "Three days"

"Three days... WHAT! Three days! Why was I asleep for that long!" shouts Touma to everyone there.  
"I don't know!" Index suddenly yelled. Her sudden burst of anger made Touma hold his breath and he looked at Index.

"I didn't know. I didn't know. I didn't know! I really didn't know anything! While I was thinking about that flame magician in front of your house, I never thought that you would be fighting against other magicians!" Those sharp words weren't directed at Touma nor Mikoto. That tone could only mean that she was blaming herself. Touma felt more pressured under these words and couldn't say anything.

"Mikoto explained everything, why you collapsed right in the middle of the road. It was also Mikoto, who carried your beaten body back to the apartment. At that time, I was the only one who does nothing. I didn't even know you were on the verge of dying."

Index stops speaking. In order to think of the best thing to say, she takes a few breathes. "…I couldn't save you"

Index's small eyebrows tremble. While biting on her lower lip, she stops her movements. But Index doesn't show her tears. She is determined to not cry. It was not Touma's place to try and comfort her. He directs his attention elsewhere.

Three days.

If they wanted to charge in and attack, they would have already done so. Actually, they should have 'recovered' Index back when he was unconscious.

_(Then why?)_ Touma doesn't know what they are trying to do at all. He gets the feeling that there is a deeper meaning in the words 'three days.' He finally remembers. The time limit! He looked at Mikoto "Why don't you bring Index from here? Just leave me!"

Mikoto yells at him, and Touma can see hint of tears at her eyes. "I can't! I can't leave you like it. Leaving you in this condition ... They probably will kill you. Standing in front enemies like that! Being battered out by them ... I ... I can't forgive myself ... if something happened to you ..."

She looked at bandages that almost warp Touma's entire body, showing how much wounds he received. Touma looked at them and sighed, he explained that Index tried to use the recovery magic to Touma by asking Komoe's help. But it useless ... Touma immediately looked at his right hand. Imagine Breaker... No matter what supernatural power it is, this thing will negate the effects, whether good or bad. Touma looked at Mikoto and Index; they seem worried him a lot.

Touma decided to ask something to Index "Espers who have taken the curriculum can't use magic right? What a hassle."

"…Yeah. They can't use it because Espers and normal people run on different circuits." Index says uneasily. "I wanted to try using bandages… Science is inconvenient. I guess Magic is the best after all."  
"Well, that could be true. -But it will be fine without magic anyways."  
"…What" Index's words were sharp. "You still don't believe in magic after all this, do you? You're as stubborn as someone with unrequited love!"

"That's not what I meant." Touma lies down his head on the pillow and turns sideways.  
"If possible, I just don't want to see the look on your face when you talk about magic."

Mikoto seemed able to understand what Touma meant. They remembered Index's face when she was explaining the rune magician's magic in front of the dormitory. She was as cold as the moon, and her eyes were as quiet as the ticking of a clock. Her voiced was as polite as a tour guides. Her words lacked human quality, just like an ATM machine. The existence of the grimoire library known as Index. That is who the individual in front of them is. Even now they can't believe it. Rather, they didn't want to believe it.

"What are you guys talking about?" asked Index  
Touma looked at her "What…? So you don't remember? You were explaining Stiyl's rune look a doll…"  
"…Umm -I see. I… awakened again"  
"Awakened? Again?" Mikoto seemed not understand what happening.

It was like Index was admitting that the doll-like state she was in was actually her. They didn't want to hear this, "Yeah. But would I like it if you didn't make any jokes about my awakening."

What? – was something they couldn't ask. In fact, before they could ask, Index spoke, "The voice I have when I'm unconscious is similar to sleep-talking, so it's embarrassing.  
"Besides," Index moves her lips "It feels like I'm gradually turning into a cold machine. It scares me."

Index smiles. Even when she is this down, she will never let someone else worry about her. It was an expression that a machine could never do. A pure smile that only a human can make.

"…Sorry" Mikoto and Touma apologized on reflex.  
"It's okay, Mikoto and Idiot" They can't tell if things are good or bad, but all Index does is smile. "Want something to eat? There's rice porridge, fruit and sweets. A patient's full course meal."

It seemed Index worried about Touma and decided to nurse him, Mikoto don't mind ... but somehow, she felt a pang of jealousy...She can't understand why she felt it. Still...It seems...even in this kind of condition, Touma's bad luck can't leave him easily Just when Index tried to feed him , the rice porridge slips from her hand and fly at Touma's direction. Everyone there can't do anything to stop the next thing. And we can tell what happened next, rice porridge turns Touma's field of vision completely white.

"Fukou Da !"

* * *

Touma's pajamas and the bed are covered in rice porridge. With teary eyes, he continues his fight against the mushy boiled rice until Index hears a knock on the door. But Mikoto and Touma stopped Index immediately.

"Mikoto! Please take care Index for a while" says Touma as he walked to the door. Mikoto nodded and looked at him with Index.

The door opens with a click. Touma's turns to take a look. They were the two magicians that he had gotten quite familiar with recently. They looked at Index who is sitting down. This makes Touma feel a little relieved. Touma suspiciously raises his eyebrows. They should be here for Index's recovery but - if they wanted to do that, they could have done so three days ago when he was unconscious. No matter what date the memory erasure takes place on, there is no reason to let Index run loose. Until the time comes, they could have just confined her somewhere.

(…_Why would they come at a time like this?)_

Touma's muscles naturally become stiff when he recalls the power these two magicians' flames and sword. But Touma had already lost any reason to continue fighting with Stiyl and Kanzaki. They are not 'fighters from an evil Magic Cabal' but are 'friends from the same church coming to secure her.' Though Touma worried about Index, all he can do is cooperate with them and send her back to the church.

But that's only Touma's biased reasoning. If they are magicians, there is no need to ask for Touma's cooperation. To put it simple, there would be no problem if they beheaded him and take Index back home by force. With his stiff body, Touma looks at Stiyl's face. He looks like he's enjoying himself.

"Hmph. Looks like you can't even run away with that body of yours."

After hearing that, Touma learns what their real intention is. If Index is alone, she can escape these magicians. She has been running away from these guys for almost a year. Even if she was chased down hard, she could just hide somewhere and slip out when she needs to… if she is alone. She was able to conceal her whereabouts from the church with only a few days left till the time limit. She might have been able to actually lose these people. If they tried to conceal her, she could escape. She could also run away during the ritual.

But if she has to look after an injured Touma, that's a different story. That's why the magicians didn't kill him and let him return to Index. They knew that she would never give up on Touma. That's how they plan to shackle her down. In order to more efficiently and safely secure Index, they became evil. Touma cursed himself, he now the one who become shackle to Index.

"Go away, magicians"

For Touma's sake, Index stands her ground and blocks the magicians' way. Index stands there with her hands spread out wide; like a cross bearing people's sins. This is exactly the situation these magicians have been hoping for. To protect Touma, Index is no longer running away.

The bodies of Stiyl and Kanzaki slightly wavered. Even though it was just what they had predicted, they still felt bad about it. Touma tried to think of what kind of expression Index is showing. Because her back is fully turned towards him, he couldn't see her face. But, to be able to freeze those magicians on the spot there is quite something.

Touma tried to think of what kind of feelings are going through them. They killed people in order to protect this girl; and now that very girl is glaring at them with such eyes.

"…Ah. Stop Index. These guys aren't our enemies…"  
"Go away!"

Index isn't listening and still continued, "Please. I beg you… I'll go anywhere with you, I'll do anything for you, anything is fine. I beg you. I seriously beg you…"  
Her accumulating hatred mixed with the teary voice of a girl, "I beg you. Please don't hurt Touma or Mikoto."

Touma wondered. Touma wonders just how much those words hurt these magicians, who were her only 'friends.' For a moment, just a moment, the two magicians show extremely pained expressions. Like they had given up all hope. Their eyes suddenly turn icy. Their icy gazes were not directed at Index. In order to lighten her pain in her last moments, they chose to never meet her.

It was because she was precious to them; they threw away their status as friends, and chose to be the enemy. That was their unbreakable belief. Because they did not have the courage to tell her the truth, they had no choice but to endure this worst case scenario.

"There's twelve hours and thirty-eight minutes till the time limit ... in another word, this midnight" Stiyl said in a tone befitting of a magician. Index don't understand what Stiyl meant, but Touma and Mikoto did

"Until then, I wanted to see how good our 'shackles' worked and if she would escape or not. I guess it worked better than I expected. If you don't want anything to happen to that toy, I suggest you forget about escaping. Got it?"

He is acting. It's because he really considered her as a precious friend and wanted her to be safe. Stiyl's words were harsh, but it showed how much resolution his heart has, to be able to put up a perfect act. Even though he wanted to spread his arms out wide and become Index's shield, he continued to act. Touma couldn't think of how much mental strength it would take to do this. Index didn't answer. Without saying another word, the two magicians leave the room.

"Everything's alright?" Index finally lowers her arms and turns back to look at Touma and Mikoto. Touma closes his eyes without thinking. He couldn't bear to look at Index who is breaking down with tears of relief. Mikoto felt the same, but she remained as strong as she usually is.

"If I make a deal with them" Touma heared her voice within the darkness, "Your daily life won't be damaged anymore. It definitely won't be trampled on anymore. It's ok."  
"...so it's...all" says Index for last time before she fainted.

Mikoto immediately protected her and laid her to the futon. Touma couldn't give an answer. He could only keep his eyes closed, and gather his thoughts within the darkness. He just shows a warm smile to Index, who is sleeping now (…_There's no way I can abandon this girl, right?)_

Touma stood up and started chasing the magicians while leaving Index in Mikoto's care.

"What are you going to do, idiot?" Mikoto asked him this single question. Touma only replied with a warm smile

* * *

"Wait!"

Stiyl Magnus and Kanzaki Kaori, who just left the apartment, looked back. They could see Kamijou Touma running to their direction.

"What is it? I thought we already finished our conversation" said Stiyl as he looked at him with annoyed face.  
"I come to negotiate"  
Stiyl and Kanzaki looked at each other, Stiyl looked at him "You finally give Index to us ..."

"No!" A single word from Touma confused them.  
Kanzaki looked back and said "… Then ... listen once again, the limit is tonight at midnight. We are preparing our preparation."  
"Why are you telling me this?" asked Touma as he didn't understand what's Kanzaki meant.

"Don't you need some time for the farewells? This is neither a conversation nor a negotiation. It is an order. Bid her the final farewell before we come and leave that place."  
"You are magicians, right? Will magic really not solve anything? Won't Index able to find the situation using her 103,000 grimores?" asked Touma

"…What does she look like in your eyes?"  
"Just a girl"  
Rather than surprised, Kanzaki looks rather bored and says, "Do you think that just any girl could continue running away from our pursuit for a year?"  
Touma only gave her silent statement

"She ran away from Stiyl's flames along with my Nanasen and Yuisen, just by using her hands and feet. She escaped from magicians without any supernatural power like yours or magic like mine." Kanzaki smiled while making fun of herself.  
"By just making two enemies, things have come to this. If I were to be enemies with Necessarius, I wouldn't even last a month."

That's right. Touma finally realizes the true nature of the girl named Index. Even though he wields the Imagine Breaker, which can even turn god's miracles into nothing, he couldn't run away from these people for four days. She, however…

"She is unquestionably a genius." Kanzaki declares, "If she used her knowledge the wrong way, she would be a disaster. It is obvious why the church didn't try to use her. They were scared. Anyone would be."

"That's why she mustn't learn anything about this, the memories deletion" as Kanzaki finished her statement.  
Touma asked "Then, your own magic can't solve everything?"  
"There is a possibility that magician outside Necessarius would stop this, the Church won't take this risk. More importantly, the act of memorizing grimoires itself signifies the contamination of the brain"  
Touma after learned this surprised and looked at them "You guys knowingly let Index ..."  
Kanzaki immediately interrupted him "we were only informed afterwards."

The next thing that Touma could feel only regret from them, while Kanzaki kept continuing her speech "Magic ... won't solve anything ..."  
Touma finally closed his eyes as he can negotiate with them now after learning several things from them. As he tried to give them hope, he looked at them with determined face, showing that he will resolve this matter

"What about ... us?"

Stiyl and Kanzaki immediately surprised and looked at Touma "Us?"  
"The science side. We have many methods of scientifically removing people's memories. We could have a solution, you don't have that could remove the 103,000 grimories from her brain."

Touma swung his hand to the environment around them, like showing them this city "This is Academy City! If what magic can't do, science can do. Also vice-verse. It's too early give up all hope! Are you still give up trying or challenging things and put someone's life in the risk?"

But Kanzaki and Stiyl not responded it, it like they didn't believe him.  
_(Right! In the end, there is no place for truce.)_  
"Fine! I will crush you arch-rival! I will definitely save her! Just see!" shouted Touma as he returned to Komoe's apartment.  
"See you midnight, then. Show us a sensational struggle to the end." replied Kanzaki as she and Stiyl left him.

* * *

When he came back, he saw Index who is sleeping with a smile. He and Mikoto started looking for a way to save her, using every knowledge they have, every book at Komoe-Sensei's apartment, calling institution and another way. It already passed evening and Mikoto still there; she even called her dorm manager and explained that she will come back tomorrow.

Somehow, her dorm manager permits her. Before the line over, there are a certain shouts from someone she know, followed by crack sound. The time kept going and when they realized it, it's already late night. Two magicians, with the backs to the moon, came in through the door which was broken down, without even taking off their shoes.

Stiyl and Kanzaki appeared from the doorway. Of course, Index is no longer blocking their way; neither is she screaming for them to go away. This is because Index suffered a high fever: sweat pours from all over her body and it looks as if she could stop breathing at any time.

It seems the light sound of snow itself would fracture her skull, causing a severe headache. Among the ESper's and the magicians, there were no words to be spoken. Stiyl, who came in without even taking off his shoes, reached out with a hand and shoved Touma off to the side. Even though the force wasn't great, Touma was unable to support his balance, as if his entire body was suddenly fatigued and collapsed on the old tatami floor.

Stiyl barely gave him a glance. He knelt on the ground, next to the paralyzed Index. As he squat down, he mumbled something to himself. His shoulders were trembling. Mikoto only looked at her and she almost cried but she tried to hold it back.

Touma had also said to Kanzaki that, if it really were for the sake of Index, there should be no regrets for erasing her memory. No matter how many times her memory is erased, as long as they can make even happier memories next time and promise a better future, she wouldn't be afraid of losing her memories and might even look forward to what "next year" will bring.

However, shouldn't this method be left as a last resort?

Touma subconsciously made a fist with his right hand, almost crushing his fingernails.

_(Is this really good? To give up everything just like this? Academy City boasts innumerable neuro-scientists dealing with the mind and human memory, certainly it was possible that there exists some way for Index to keep her memory yet live a happy life.)_

Or is this the time to give up? Using these obscure magic methods to take away a person's most precious recollections, is this really the correct way? Using the most primitive, the most brutal method that ever existed in this world…is this really right?  
Somehow he can feel a sound from his heart, it says

_(No, don't try to lie to yourself. These useless theories…they're not what matters. What matters, are you, Touma.)_

"You guys don't want to use this method either, right? You guys still pray in your heart, that there is some other method, right? If so, give me a little more time; I promise I will find a way in which everyone can laugh and be happy! Thus…!"

Touma still struggled through the end, even though Mikoto seemed unable to do anything anymore. Being one of Level 5 in Academy City, but she unable to do anything about this matter ... she felt that she was useless.

Stiyl Magnus, who still looked at Touma, said absolutely nothing. Touma didn't know himself why he cared this much. His life with Index hadn't even been for a week. In the past sixteen years of his life, Touma had absolutely no idea who Index was and yet still lived perfectly well.

As such, even if she were to vanish, Touma should still, in theory, be able to live a normal life. However, this was something that he simply cannot do. Not knowing the reason…in fact, a reason was not even needed. He only knew that there will be pain. Her voice, her smile, her every action…will never appear again. This week's memories will be erased not unlike pressing the "Reset" button of a machine. It will all become a mirage. Once he thought of this possibility, the tenderest part of his heart silently began to throb.

A silence filled the room. Even though people are obviously present, nobody dares break the silence. The only sound is the subtle sound of breathing, creating a bizarre sort of "silence". Touma lifted his head. His trembling face gazed at the magician's face.

"Is that all you have to say? You useless little pretender of a benevolent man."

Just this phrase. Flame magician Stiyl Magnus uttered just this phrase. He was completely unable to comprehend anything Touma was saying. Every one of Touma's words which went in his ear was analyzed and scrutinized. He understood everything lucidly. However, Stiyl Magnus was completely unmoved his words.

"Quit talking such nonsense!" Stiyl declared this phrase, shocking Touma to the point where he didn't even know what his face looked like.

"Look…" Stiyl said to Touma without even uttering a sigh. As he said this, he pointed his finger; when Touma glanced at where he was pointing, he saw Index tightly gripping her head, pulling down hard.

"LOOK!"

Directly in front of his eyes, lies the Index. Index, who may stop breathing at any given moment.

"Those words that you just said, can you say them while facing this child?" Stiyl said in a shaking voice. "Facing this person who may die at any second, facing this person who is in so much pain that she in unable to open her eyes! You can tell her that you want to try a method which MAY work, while she sits around and waits?"

Index's hands ceaselessly trembles. It's unknown whether this action was done consciously, or was produced reflexively; Index however perseveres in moving her hands, heavy as lead, reaching up towards to Touma. It's as if she were trying to protect the man who was captured by magicians. She did not care about her obviously tortured body.

"If you can still say those words, you are obviously inhuman! Look at her! You still want to inject some obscure, untested drugs into her body? Let some mysterious doctors play around with her body? Shove drugs into her mouth? That's not something a human being should do!" Stiyl's roar penetrated Touma's inner ears, straight into his brain. "Give me an answer! Esper! Are you still human? Or the shell of a human, a monster taking the shape of one?"

Touma did not answer. Stiyl continued, adding insult to injury like a sword piercing the heart of a dead carcass. From his pocket, he produced a necklace adorned with a small cross, "…this little thing is essential to magicians specializing in brainwashing."

Stiyl held up the necklace, swinging the cross in front of Touma's eyes. "You can probably tell that this is a 'Magical' tool. As long as your right hand touches it, it will be negated just like my Innocentius."

Like using a 5 yen coin to hypnotize someone, the cross swayedback and forth in front of Touma's eyes. "That is, do you have the courage to do so, Esper?"

Touma's entire body froze. He was only able to stare at Stiyl's face.

"Looking at her painful figure, do you have the courage to take this 'Magic' away in front of her very eyes? If you really believe in your own strength, then just reach out and touch it, you wannabe of a hero!"

Touma looked forward. Forward, towards the swaying cross. The cross is powerful enough to completely erase her memories. If what Stiyl said was true, as long as this thing was destroyed, Index wouldn't need to have her memories get erased. This by itself was not hard: he needs simply reach out his hand, and tap it lightly with his fingers. It was that simple. Touma tightly clenched his right hand, which couldn't stop shaking.

But, he couldn't do it.

Magic was the only way that can save Index…thus far. Looking at her suffering, a mere girl who endures her pain, who can take this "Magic" away from her?  
"With the current preparations, the shortest time is…15 minutes after midnight. We'll use the power of the constellation to erase her memories." Said Stiyl in a bored tone while looking at Touma. Fifteen minutes after midnight…there's less than ten minutes remaining.

He very much wanted to shout "Stop!". He very much wanted to shout 'Give me just a bit more time!'

However, if he did that, the one who will be hurt was not Touma. Whatever Touma did, Index would shoulder the retribution.

He only remembered her words. He recognized that he had absolutely no way whatsoever of saving Index. Touma couldn't cry. He couldn't roar out. He could only look towards the ceiling, gritting his teeth hard…tears he was unable to hold back trickled out.

"…Magician…I ask of you…" Touma leaned against the bookshelf, looking towards the sky, and said with a blank expression on his face. "At this final moment…What should I say to her…How should I apologize to her?"

"There's no time for you to do such pointless things."

Touma only replied with a blank expression on his face. To the Touma, who seemed as if he were in despair for eternity, Stiyl simply continued adding insult to injury.

"YOU! Why don't you give up like that girl and disappeared from this place yet, you monster!" The magician shouts to Mikoto and specifically Touma.

"Your right hand can even OBLITERATE my Innocentius… although I still do not understand how you could've possibly done that… but I do not dare use this magical tool in the vicinity of your right hand. Touma once again had a blank look on his face, and replied with an "oh" sound. Just like that, his entire body turned into a zombie, and he lightly began to laugh.

"…When her back was pierced, it was the exact same situation…why am I never able to do anything…"

Stiyl did not reply. He only looked at Touma with eyes which said "And why would I care?"

"My right hand…evidently able to negate even the miracles of god…" Touma said with a strained voice on the verge of collapsing. "Why is it…cannot save…a mere girl who is suffering…"

Touma laughed. He did not curse his fate, nor did he push the blame to misfortune. He simply recognized his own worthless incompetence. Kanzaki looked as if she lost her patience, and said to Touma, "The ritual must be performed precisely fifteen minutes after midnight, which leaves you with ten minutes…"

Stiyl glared at Kanzaki, his face the expression of someone who has just seen something he could not believe. However, Kanzaki merely looked at Stiyl and gave a gentle chuckle. "The first time we decided to erase her memories…didn't we spend the entire night sitting by her side and crying, Stiyl?"

"…!"

For just a moment, Stiyl was rendered speechless. He warned "But…but…who knows what tricks these idiots here might try! If we were to leave them alone with this child, mightn't they do something crazy?"

"If they had planned on doing that, the boy would've had touched that cross you showed him. It was specifically BECAUSE you believed that he had some 'humanity' left in him, that you actually tested him with the cross… and the real one at that. Not the replica… isn't that right?"

"But…"

"Besides, before the time comes, the ritual can't be held anyways. If we let him keep these hidden regrets within his heart, there's a chance that they might disturb us while we are executing the ritual. That's just even more dangerous, Stiyl." Stiyl tightly gritted his teeth. The teeth made a grinding sound; with the attitude of a wild beast biting down hard on Touma's throat, he shouts to them, "You two have exactly ten minutes. Ten minutes, did you hear me…"

With that, he turned away and walked towards the apartment entrance. Without a sound, Kanzaki followed behind Stiyl. Her eyes showed a cynical and bitter smile. With a resounding "Bam!", the door was closed shut. Inside the room, all that remained were Touma and Index. This was ten minutes which was exchanged with a life on the line.

Index's life.

However, Touma did not know what he should do. "Ah, that's right…telephone…call…" Mikoto only looked at Index once again, while Touma started pressing random number.

Index was paralyzed on the ground. Her mouth let out a sound, causing a shudder to run across his shoulders. Her two eyes barely open. Her expression was one that conveyed she was more worried about why she was wrapped on a blanket, when this was Touma's bed. That is, completely not caring about herself.

Both Touma and Mikoto bit their teeth hard. The lone act of facing this little girl was harder than facing that magician. However, they must never run away.  
"Tou…ma…? Mi…ko…to?" Touma and Mikoto moved next to the blanket. Index, on seeing Touma's and Mikoto's expressions, showed signs of relief on her sweaty and puffy face. It was a sign of relief expressed from the hard; therefore, she breathed it out.

Touma started apologizing "….I'm sorry…"

Touma stood by the bed, next to the blanket and stared into Index's eyes while apologizing.

"…? Touma….the magical symbols…that are on the…walls of the room…"

Index, who had just recovered, did not know that these magical symbols were drawn by those two magicians. She looked at these symbols on the walled, and cocked her head to think about it. For just one moment, Touma bit down hard on his teeth. But the very next moment, he exhibited absolutely no emotions, returning to his original expression.

"…..this magic is meant to help you recover! It's your entire fault for getting such a bad headache!"

"Magic….? Who made this…?" Saying this, Index finally felt a suspicious possibility.

"!" Forcibly moving her obviously immobilized body, Index wanted to jump up. Seeing her pained expression, Touma grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her back into the bed.

"Touma! Mikoto! The magicians came again right? YOU GUYS MUST RUN!" Index's facial expression showed that she was shocked beyond belief. She was very certain of how dangerous these magicians were, so she worried for them from the bottom of her heart.

"…..that's enough, Index…" says Touma while thinking (_Kamijou! It's over…everything…it's all over.)_

Index's lips whispered Both of their name, she lost all body strength. Touma did not know himself, he did not know what type of expression was on his face. Mikoto gave her a forced smile.

"…Sorry…" Touma said. "I will change to become stronger. I will definitely not lose against them. Wait until I become stronger, I will knock down every one of those people who oppose you."

Crying today would be a despicable behavior. To want sympathy would be even more of a treacherous deed.

"…Just you wait, next time I will definitely save you gracefully!" If Touma were to look in Index's eyes, what expressions would they hold? These words, when they penetrate Index's ears, what type of reaction would they cause?

"Okay, I'll wait for you." If one did not know the entire story, these words would sound as if Touma were giving up to the enemy, as if he betrayed Index to save his own life. Yet, she laughed.

It was a painless smile, a complete smile, a smile which could vanish at any given moment. Yet, she laughed. Touma was completely unable to comprehend.  
How could she possibly trust other people? Touma really could not understand. Yet, Touma already felt as if this were inevitable.

Touma told her, "Wait until your head stops hurting, then I will definitely knock down those bastards and liberate you."  
Touma told her, "Wait until my summer classes finished and we'll go to the beach and play together."  
Touma asked her, "When summer ends, would you like to transfer into our school?"

Index replied, "I want to create more memories between us." Touma promised her, "We definitely will create many more memories."  
Mikoto only smiles while hearing those two lies. They kept carrying out their own lies. What was right and what was wrong did not matter today. A calm and emotionless justice, although just yet unable to save a little girl, would be utterly useless today.

Kamijou Touma, this name, did not need either the labels of "justice" nor "evil". Kamijou Touma, this name, only required the label "hypocrisy". Thus, Kamijou Touma did not shed a single tear. Misaka Mikoto also followed the same.

With a thud, Index's hand lost the strength to hold itself up, instead collapsing down on the blanket. Index, once again losing consciousness, looked like a corpse. "However…" Looking at the feverish Index, Touma slowly bit his mouth. "This sort of conclusion…is way too depressing…" He bit down so hard, the taste of blood seeped out.

"This probably the best solution" replied Mikoto with forced smile. "We couldn't even protect her memories anymore. 85% use for her head and 15% for her memories. We can't kept it, eh."

(…_wait a minute…)_ The originally depressed Touma suddenly felt that something was wrong.

85%?

Very slowly. Touma thought slowly while looking at Index's flushed face. Indeed, Kanzaki had said 85%. 85% of Index's brain capacity is completely used to store the 103,000 grimiories. Thus, her brain's capacity is greatly lessened, so that only 15% of her brain is available to store a year's worth of memories. If this limit of 1 year was breached, her head would literally explode.

But…wait! 15% of her brain's capacity was only able to store a year's worth of memories? Although Touma did not clearly understand the concept of "Absolute Memory", going by this rate, Index shouldn't still be alive. Furthermore, other people like Index who have the "Absolute Memory" ability don't have Index's power to reset their memories with magic. If 15% of brain capacity were only able to store a year's worth of memories…

"…then wouldn't those people live to be around six or seven…? If that really were the case, shouldn't this terrible ability be more infamous?" asked Touma to himself, Mikoto looked at him and realized something like what Touma thinking.

"Wait… how did Kanzaki even come up with numbers like 85% and 15%? Just who told her this information? The ultimate question is… This number, 85%...is it really accurate?" asked Mikoto to Touma once more.

"…don't tell me…" What if the magicians outside the room have absolutely no idea how the brain works? They get this information after being told by the higher-ups in the church…then, they did not verify any of this information themselves, and just swallowed whatever they told them?" as Touma found out the dark truth of Index's brain.

Mikoto suddenly realized strange things to and started looking for information with her PDA while Touma looked for something. Regardless of what really happened, Touma had a very bad feeling about everything. He rushed over to the little black telephone box in the corner of the room. He was unsure where Komoe-sensei would be at this hour. But her cellphone had been on when she was rummaging for the box of chocolates in her room.

As Touma called the phone, a mechanical ringing sound persisted, causing Touma to feel slightly worried. Kanzaki had said that the definition of "Absolute Memory" had always been misconstrued. What if these "misconceptions" were deliberate indoctrination on part of the church? Just what secrets were hidden in this mess?

A cracking sound later, someone picked up the phone.

"Sensei!" Touma practically screamed the name out. "Ara ara, this voice… It is Kamijou-Chan right? Don't randomly call your teacher's phone in the middle of the night!"

"…Sensei, your voice sounds…very…relaxed?" "Ah, sensei is currently in a huge public bath! Holding coffee milk in my hand, and testing out the new massage chair….ahhhhhh~!" Touma wanted to crush the telephone, but what was important now is that he knows more about Index's condition. "Sensei! Calm down and listen to me! The situation is like this…"

Touma described everything about the "Absolute Memory" ability to Komoe-sensei. He questioned her, what was that ability? Does it really use 15% of the brain's capacity per year? And if that were so, and people died at the age of six or seven, is it an incurable disease?

"How can such ability even exist?" With that one phrase, Komoe-sensei completely refuted Touma's explanations.

"The ability to keep perfect memory would indeed retain all forms of junk memory—like the words on a supermarket commercial—but the brain would definitely not explode as a result. Those people would only take nearly an entire life's worth of memory with them to the grave, since the human brain is capable of storing about 140 years of memory."

Touma's heart skipped a beat. "B-but…what if a person remembered many things? For example, let's say they used their ability to remember the contents of an entire library…would their brain not explode?"

"Oi…it looks like you need to study harder on your neuroscience, or else you'll start failing," Komoe-sensei responded with a cheerful voice. "Sensei will tell you. A person's 'memory' is not stored in precisely one location. Memory is subdivided into many locations, such as that for language and knowledge for 'declarative memory', sports and physical training for 'procedural memory', and that for recollecting the past as 'memories of experiences'…the list goes on, there are lots of types~"

"Um…sensei…I'm not really understanding what you're saying…"

"Simply said," the student-loving Komoe-sensei quickly replied. "Each type of memory is sorted into a different 'container', just like how trash is organized into combustible and non-combustible. Thus, when a person bumps his head and gets amnesia, he doesn't return to a babbling infant who can't walk, right?"

"…that means…"

"That's right! No matter how many library books a person memorizes to increase his 'declarative memory', it won't impact his capacity for 'procedural memory' or 'memories of experiences'. From the perspective of neuroscience, it is something that will never happen~"

The telephone slid from his hand. The falling telephone hit the "End call" button on the telephone stand, effectively ending the call. But for now, Touma did not even have time to spare on such minor details.

"Hey Idiot, what happened?" Mikoto stares at him with curiosity.  
"The church lied to Kanzaki and Stiyl. Index's ability to keep all memory should not be a problem in her life." explained Touma  
"If this were so, then why…?"

Flustered, Touma began mumbling to himself. Why would they want to do this? Why would they force a perfectly healthy Index to reset her memory on a yearly basis to prevent her from dying? Furthermore, the tortured figure of Index in front of Touma's eyes did not look faked. If the reason was not that her brain is exploding from having too much memory, and then just what is possibly causing Index to suffer such unbearable pain?

"Hey Idiot! Are you fine, why are you like that?" Mikoto started shaking him with a worried face after seeing him mumbled to himself and sweating a lot.

"—Haaaah." Thinking up to here, Touma laughed out loud without restraint while Mikoto surprised at his reaction. That's right, the church just wanted to put a collar around Index's neck. The church only wanted her to need a memory reset every year to ensure that she is forever bound to the church. That way, Index, carrying all 103,000 grimoires, may never betray the church.

If so, then shouldn't her body need to rely on the magic of the church? If so, then shouldn't her body be able to survive without the magic of the church? Would the church really let her live as she wants? Index, carrying the forbidden 103,000 grimoires with her, can disappear without a trace at any given time; how can the church not think to put some sort of restraint on her?

"Hey Biri biri, can you confirm what my Sensei said?" Touma asks Mikoto after she also heard the conversation. Mikoto nodded as a sign that what Komoe-sensei said is true. The main point is, the church wanted to restrain Index in some way. Finally reaching this conclusion, the answer was elucidated. Index's brain, which had no problems to begin with, suffered some devious trickery on part of the church.

"—Haha!" It's like taking a bucket of water which could hold ten liters of water, and adding nine liters of cement. Of course, the bucket could only hold one liter now. The church controlled Index's brain, such that it could 'only save a year's worth of memories before exploding' All this was to prevent index from betraying them. At the same time, it allows them to easily control Index's magician friends—an evil tactic based on the manipulation of people's kindness.

"But, all of these things are unimportant." That's right! Everything was unimportant. What was important? Right now, what was important is one small thing: what exact was the "collar" around Index installed by the Church to inflict pain on her? If we say that Academy City was the flagship of the "science" side…then those magicians, what sort of evil flagship do they side with?

The answer was obvious: of course, it's "magic". And it must be the strongest of all "magic" has to offer. But even if were a miracle of god, it would be utterly negated by Touma's right hand. Touma's room was unadorned with a clock, so he quickly estimated the remaining time. Then, he turned to gaze at the bedroom door. Even if he and Mikoto were to tell the magicians about the "real truth", would they be willing to believe it? The answer, of course, is NO.

They are student, and have absolutely no expertise in neuroscience. Furthermore, the relationship between them and the magicians can be summarized as "enemies". There's no way that they would ever believe anything they said.

_"-Looking at her painful figure, do you have the courage to take this 'Magic' away in front of her very eyes? If you really believe in your own strength, then just reach out and touch it, you wannabe of a hero!"_

Remembering the words Stiyl said, and letting himself feel completely useless due to those words, Touma began to chuckle. The world today is no longer the same. Touma laughed. "I don't want to be the hero…" He smiled as he unwrap the bandage around his right hand and revealed the Imagine Breaker. "I AM the hero."

Mikoto awed at Touma's 'idiotic' bravery and seemed to agree with him too.  
"Hey, I AM also a Hero too you know!" Mikoto said as she remembered her deeds during the 'Level Upper' incident where she has saved countless of lives too with her power.

Touma started touching Index in several place, tried to look for "the collar" that hurt Index. But nothing happened, not even sound of breaking glasses that always happened when Touma negated any supernatural power. "Nothing happened?"

"... Hey! It must be hidden inside her body, right? Since the magic spell is related to her memory, the place where it's sealed should be around her head, or somewhere nearby? That logic makes sense, right?" declares Mikoto immediately.

Touma looked at Index. Her hands clutching her head in pain, her tightly closed eyes, her runny nose…he didn't stop to look at any of these things. Instead, he continued downwards, to where her harsh breathing came from…her cute mouth.

"No way!"

He stuck the thumb and index finger from his right hand between her lips, and opened her mouth. He looked deep in, to about where her throat was. Although there's no protection from the skull, this place is even closer to the brain. Furthermore, there's a very low chance of being seen by people, and an even lower chance of it being felt. Amidst the dark red color of the inside of the throat, Touma spotted a black symbol. It looked just like the symbols on those television shows about astrology.

"Is that what I think, it is?" Mikoto asked as she too looks at the symbol inside Index's mouth while Touma nodded and said, "Yeah, I think this is it!".

He shut his eyes, and decided to stick his hand inside her mouth. With his right hand inside her mouth, he felt something slimy on his hand, something which did not feel human. The saliva inside her mouth was hot, and stuck to Touma's fingers. Upon feeling these things, he hesitated for but a moment, before steeling himself to reach deep into her throat nevertheless.

He felt like vomiting, perhaps due to the repulsive thought of what he was doing. However, he heard a sound, and the index finger on his right hand felt a jolt like an electric current. At this time… Bang! Touma's right hand was flung backwards at a high velocity by some unknown force.

"Ugh…!" Countless drops of fresh blood rained down on the blanket and tatami with a ringing noise. It felt as if someone had shot his hand point blank, and Touma cannot help but take a look at his right hand. The wound he received from his battle with Kanzaki was reopened, and new blood now dripped down on the floor below, making a sound.

"Idiot!" shouts Mikoto as she realized Touma's new wounds.

Behind his right hand, not far away… The Index that was originally lying down on the ground quietly opened both of her eyes, shining a bright red. But red was not the color of her eyes. In fact, it was a blood-red magical seal which appeared in place of her irides.

"Damn….!" Touma was paralyzed on his back, and was unable to stretch out his injured right hand…at that time; Index shot a terrifying ray of bright red light from her eyes, which exploded.

Mikoto immediately protected herself with her iron particle shield but Touma's body slammed against the book shelf. The boards from the shelf collapsed on him, and all the books crashed down on the floor, making a racket. He also felt his entire body burning with pain, as if all his bones and joints were being crushed.

Mikoto ran to him as he stood up on his shaking legs, which were so unstable he felt that they could collapse at any moment. In his mouth, his saliva mixed with traces of fresh blood, mingling to create a metallic taste.

"Oi Idiot! Are you alright!" Mikoto said as she holds his body from falling down.  
"Y-Yeah...I'm fine..." Touma said while gritting his teeth in pain.

Stiyl and Kanzaki, who are outside just now, come in. They realized this and immediately entered the room, find a very surprising fact. "W-What the bloody hell happened?" asks Stiyl in his British accent as the cigarette at his mouth fall down to the floor.

Suddenly they heard robotic tone from Index's mouth.  
"Warning! Chapter 3, Verse 2. Confirmed the penetration of seal 1 to 3. Attempting to regenerate… Failure. Auto-regeneration... Failure. In order to protect the 103,000 grimoires, the elimination of the intruder will be given priority."  
Touma looked at the sight before him. Index moved around slowly and awkwardly. Her two eyes, emblazoned with the red seals, lifted up to glare at Touma.

Touma and Mikoto looked at Stiyl and Kanzaki, who still surprised and Touma asks, "Ah! Right…I think I forgot to ask something,"  
Touma tightly held his tired and hurt right hand and whispered to himself, "She isn't an ESPer, so why don't she have any magical energy?"

"—Attempting to reverse-engineer the magical attack used by the intruder to destroy the barrier with the aid of the 103,000 grimoires…failure. Unable to locate a match in the database. Initiating preparations to construct an attack used specifically for removing the intruder."

"—successfully prepared a counterattack against the intruder using the most efficient form of magic. Next, deploying 'Sanctuary of St. George for the purpose of removing the target."

Following a loud thundering sound, the two magic seals in Index's eyes enlarged. In front of Index, two circles of approximately 2 meters in diameter overlapped. As if they were anchored by Index's eyes, when Index swayed her head, the floating magic seals also moved with her. Suddenly, the two magic seals which were projected from her eyes began to emit light, which resulted in an explosion. In the space in front of the center of her eyebrows, it was as if a strong ball lightning was created, with sparks flying out in all directions. However, it was not white sparks, but rather a ball of black lightning.

"Be careful!" Mikoto shouted as they prepared for the next thing.

It looked like space itself was being torn apart, creating a ripping sound. Following a thundering clap sounding similar to a shattering glass wall, dark cracks appeared on all the walls of the room. The cracks looked like a turtle shell, and appeared to act as a defense against anyone who happened to be close to Index. The inside of the cracks exhibited some sort of rippling effect, making a sound while growing outward.

From inside the dark crack flowed out something which smelled like a wild beast. At that moment, Touma had a sudden feeling. It wasn't a theory, a logical conclusion, a sensible reasoning, or even an educated guess. It was pure instinct, his mind crying out at him. Although he did not know what was hidden behind the turtle-shell pattern, but he knew that if he even saw it for a second, as long as he even sees it, Kamijou Touma would be instantaneously annihilated without a trace.

As long as he can destroy that "thing" beyond the crack…Touma would be able to use his ability to save Index's life.

"Ahahahahaha!" Thus, he was actually trembling from joy. Fear? No such thing. He prepared himself for this, because his hand was capable of negating the miracles of god. His hand, which cannot fight off delinquent thugs, which cannot be used to improve his test scores, which cannot help him get a girlfriend, which he initially assumed was useless.

When Index was stabbed in the back because she did not want to implicate Touma with the magicians, when she would not be able to recover inside his apartment due his ability, and when he was beaten to a pulp by the woman with the sword and steel strings, Touma had always cursed his own inability to do anything while, hoping that one day he can use his ability so save this little girl. However, he did not think he'd ever actually take such a heroic role. Today, the task of ending his cruel story of his misfortune is hidden in his own right hand!

Suddenly, Index started shining and the floating magic seals between them shot something like a beam to Touma. But, Touma knew that is magic … so he lifts up his right hand and blocked the attack.

"Alright! Biribiri! Can you help me?" Touma asks Mikoto while holding the attack from Index.  
"Help what?" Mikoto replies as she can't hurt Index even though Index like this.  
Touma took a glance at her and said, "I'm gonna rescue Index!"

After that, he looked at Stiyl and Kanzaki who are surprised to see Index could use Magic.  
"It … can't … be! Why can she…use…magic?" Kanzaki asked herself as she stare at Index.  
Stiyl turned to Touma and said angrily, "What have you done you piece of-"

But before he can end his words, Touma shouts to the two as he struggles to hold Index attack "What are you seeing is real!"

"Yeah! Your Church has made you believe their lie! So that they will make things easier for them! Can't you see that!" Mikoto shouts at them  
"She can use Magic! Not like you or her claimed that she cannot use Magic!" Mikoto added more. Struggling against the powerful attack, Touma explained the situation to the two dumbfounded Magician while supporting his right hand with his left hand.

"The whole story that Index memory need to be erased every year was a piece of bullshit!" Touma shouted in anger. Suddenly … Stiyl and Kanzaki surprised and Touma tell them the real thing.

"Your Church is planning to use her brain! The Church's Magic is the whole reason for this whole thing dammit!" Touma shouted again as he tries to realize the Magician who have been cheated by their own.

"Erase that magic and there is no need to erase her memories anymore!" shouted Touma to them, every of his words filled with deep emotions.

"Think about it! Did you think … your church that forced Index to memories those 103,000 grimories … Would tell you guys the truth! If not, ask Index personally!"

The Index started speaking again in robotic tone as her attack unable to hurt Touma

"St. George's Sanctuary does not seem to be effective against the intruder. Switching to other spells and proceeding with the destruction of the intruder."

The beam attack that Touma blocked started getting larger and powerful. Mikoto tried to help him but she can't hurt Index at all, so she only support Touma from behind by putting her hands on his shoulder.

"Urghh!" The attack that Touma tries to hold is still not dissipating.  
"Hey you!" Mikoto shouts as she noticed he is struggling.  
_(Dammit! I don't think my right hand can hold more longer! This is the same with that bastards Innocentius!)_

He shouted again to the two Magician that standing there, doing nothing.  
"Hey, how long are you going to stand there and watch!" Touma asks.  
Stiyl annoyed and said back, "Shut up! What the bloody hell do you know!"

"She's waiting for us! Waiting for us all! She has waited for a time that we all can smile and laugh together again! No more fight between us! THAT'S WHAT SHE ALWAYS WANTED FOR ALL THIS TIME!" Touma shouts that make Stiyl silenced.  
"If my right hand can reach and touch her, then I can save her!" He shouted as he watched Index attacked him.  
"Magician! Things are now going to get serious!" Touma shouted again.

Touma began to feel the pain on his right hand and Mikoto noticed it.  
"Hey IDIOT! It's dangerous!" Mikoto shouted behind him.  
_(This is not good!)_

Suddenly a voice that he and Mikoto has been waiting for, "**Fortis931!**"

Then, Stiyl threw many rune cards that filled entire room.

He put his right hand on Touma's shoulder and tried to help him, "Just this once! I will believe that word of your! Esper!"

Kanzaki finally moved "**Salvare000**!-(_The one that saved becomes the hand that saves_)"  
After that, several metal wires appeared and the tatami floor that tears the floor apart, causing Index's beam attack forced upwards, destroying the roof of Komoe's house.

It kept flying to the sky … no … to the space and hit the satellite that happened to be above Academy City.

Many feathers come down on Komoe's house.

"What are these feathers?" asks Touma as he looked at the white feathers.  
"These feathers … Don't tell me! This is … Dragon's Breath! Be careful! It's a kin to's dragon's attack according to the legend. If you ever make contact to one of those feathers, you will be doomed!" Kanzaki explained loudly. Suddenly, Index fixed her attack once more and the beam attack almost hit Touma.

"Innocentius!" shouts Stiyl and the fire moster appeared

"What! Innocentius!" Touma and Mikoto surprised and looked at the fire monster.

"It's not like I believe in that bullshit preach of yours..." He shouted and paused before he continued, "But if you can save her, then I WILL DESTROY ANYTHING THAT TRIES TO GET IN YOUR WAY!" He said as he ordered Innocentius to block another attack.  
"Go ESPers!" Stiyl shouted at Mikoto and Touma.

Touma looks at Mikoto and said, "Can you protect me from those feathers as I go to Index?"  
Mikoto nodded and created a barrier from the debris mostly of Komoe's metal beer can which is scattered in that home and covers her and Touma's head.

"Thank you. Now, let's go!" He shouted the two charges towards Index.  
"Warning! Chapter 6, Verse 13. The presence of new enemy solider has been confirmed. Changing battle logic. Beginning to analyze battle plan according to the situation … Complete" Index began to spoke in her monotonous voice.  
Touma began approaching her and his way protected by Mikoto's iron particle shield.

"Prioritizing the elimination of the most problematic enemy, Kamijou Touma" Index continued attacking but Innocentius kept blocking her attack and Touma getting closer to her.  
"Warning. Chapter 22, Verse 1. Succeeded in reverse engineering of flame spell. Constructing an anti-Christian weapon."

Stiyl, Kanzaki and Mikoto are only able to put their hope on Touma's right hand.

Index muttered something creating a spell "Moving 's Sanctuary to Stage 2. Eli Eli Lama Sabachthani? ("My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:45-46))"

Stiyl's Innocentius destroyed, but before Index can fixed her target from Innocentius to Touma; Touma's right hand immediately touches the barrier around Index and stop the attack.  
_(God! If this world is a system which You created and moved by your own will... Then ...)_ He thought.  
" I'LL BREAK THAT GODDAMN ILLUSION APART FIRST!" He shouts as his right hand managed to pierce through Index barrier and touches her.

Suddenly large sound like glasses breaking can be heard.

The stage before suddenly become blue and no sound at all.

Index started fall to the ground while saying something like broken robot "War… ning… Final Chapter… Verse… 0…"

The blood color seal at Index's eye started disappearing "Necklace"… suffered fatal destruction… Regeneration impo-"

Index hit the ground and she fell to sleep. Touma and Mikoto could finally release their breath after this incident; The two immediately ran towards Index.

"Index!" The two shouted and Index and they discarded the barrier that they use to protect from the feathers. The Magician just sighed at the two but inside their heart, they are glad to see Index safe. Index began to wake up and saw Mikoto. Index in her view, smiling at her.

"We did it!" Mikoto shouted to him.  
"Yeah" Touma said as he began to look at her, face but a feather is coming dangerously close to his head. Stiyl and Kanzaki started warning Touma and Mikoto reacted too late.

Without warning, the feather exploded and Touma felt very painful attack and cannot hold his consciousness for much longer and fainted with Mikoto and Index near him. Just before another feather hit Touma's head again, Mikoto create some kind of iron particle shield and covered them all.

The others just stunned and shocked seeing him injured by the feather and Mikoto shouted at him to see if he's okay.  
"Touma!" Index shouted at him as she slowly approaches him with very little energy she has.  
"We gotta get him to the hospital!" Mikoto said as she requested the Magicians help to get him to the hospital.

As they getting away from there, no one realized that Touma's phone still on and the person who in the line heard all of their conversation. But then, the phone line suddenly shuts down.

* * *

It already 5:00 PM in London, 2 hours already passed since a certain call from a certain boy in Academy City. A boy with silver ponytail about 175 cm tall, is standing in front one of of the many churches in the heart of London, St. George Cathedral. He is the last person who Touma contact two hours ago, Kuroshiro Rinnosuke. One of 2 Academy City's students, who were transferred here as Exchange Student Program, prove of cooperation between Academy City with outside world. And with them in England, the country could get some data to develop their own Espers.

No one able to see his face well because he used black eyeglasses to cover his eyes. He decided to open his eyeglasses, showing his yellow-gold eyes, which almost looked like wolf eyes. While looking at the church, he griped his cell phone tightly with his left hand and lets out a sigh. "I hope he is Okay...Really ..."

He started thinking what he heard on phone line before. "I won't believe what I can't see...yet. But … It seems real."

He went to his car, Lamborghini Murcielago LP640, which already modified by him using Academy City's technology. "I better picked them up now ... They must be waiting for me" he says to himself before enter his car. He looked once again at the church for the last time

(_Magic, huh ... I guess weird things can happen too)_

* * *

**Tomorrow morning at the hospital**,

"So, how is he Dr. Gekota?" Mikoto asked to a slightly fat doctor who looked like a frog after Touma admitted to the hospital right after he saves Index. She's now with Index too to visit him.

"So far his injury is very critical but he's now stabilized and getting better." The frog faced doctor explained as he read Touma's medical report.

"Speaking of which, we suddenly had 3 people without Academy City ID cards, which really shocked me. It's said that one of the surveillance satellites was taken down by some light; now the Judgement members are panicking, huh?"

_(Wasn't that the first and last question already?)_ Index thought. 3 people without IDs…one of them is Index, so the remaining two should be those two magicians. They were chasing her around since last night, and now they actually helped her and Mikoto to send Touma to the hospital. Luckily, It seems the frog-doctor already waiting them there and inspected Touma immediately. It as if everything already been set up by God.

Somehow, Index can tell that those guys, who chase Index until now, changed so much. The doctor gave the two a letter while saying, "A red hair guy and a women come here and gave me this letter, said it was for that boy." Immediately, Index took the letter; She and Mikoto read the content.

Since the letter was sent by "Stiyl Magnus" and started with "Dear Kamijou Touma", it was simply too suspicious. A deadly malice could be felt from the heart sticker on the envelope.

At any rate, the letter read…

_Any standard greetings would be a waste of time, so I'm skipping them._

_Well you've done it, you bastard... and I'd like to go on like that, but if I threw all my personal feelings at you here, I would end up using up all the trees in the world and still not have enough paper for this letter. As such, I'll end that there, you bastard._

It went on like that for 8 pages of stationery. Index silently and carefully read through it all, crushing up each page she finished and tossing it behind her. The doctor's frog face grew more and more annoyed with each new balled-up page littering the floor of his workplace, but could not say anything to Index who emitted the odd intimidation of a bullied child on the verge of tears.

Now on the 9th and final page, the following was written:

_For now, I will do the bare minimum of what etiquette demands of me for your help and explain the girl and her circumstances. I can't have either of us owing each other anything. The next time we meet, we are sure to be enemies._

_We don't trust you scientists, so we examined her in our own way before the doctors saw her, and she seems to be fine. The higher ups in the Anglican Church seem to want to retrieve her as soon as possible now that her collar has been removed, but I think a more wait-and-see approach would be better. Although personally, I cannot stand to have her with you for even an instant longer._

_However, she used magic based on the 103,000 grimoires when in the John's Pen mode that the Church prepared. Now that John's Pen has been destroyed, it is possible she can use magic with her own free will now. If the destruction of John's Pen has caused her magic power to recover, we must reorganize our strength._

_That said I don't see how her magic power could have realistically recovered. It's hardly worth warning you, but a magic god that can freely use those 103,000 grimoires is just that dangerous._

_(By the way, this does not mean we have given up and are leaving her to you. Once we have gathered the information we need and gathered the equipment we need, we intend to come back to take that girl again. I don't like catching people off guard, so make sure you prepare yourself for our arrival.)_

_P.S. This letter is made to self-destruct after it has been read. Even if you had realized the truth, you need to be punished for making that bet without consulting us. I hope these blows off a finger or two of that precious right hand of yours._

Post-letter, one of Stiyl's runes was carved into the paper. As soon as Index frantically threw the letter away, it burst into pieces with a crackling noise.

"You seem to have some rather extreme friends. Did they soak the letter in a liquid explosive?"

The fact that the letter exploding did not surprise the doctor made Index half-seriously think he was a bit crazy himself. However, Index's feelings seemed to have numbed over too, because no other thoughts entered her mind. As such, she decided to do what she had come to the hospital to do in the first place. Mikoto wanted to say something to Index, but she couldn't.

On other hand, the frog-face doctor wanted to open his mouth once again. But, he shook his head and decided to keep silent about something important.

* * *

**Meanwhile,**  
Two certain people are in Touma's ward, visiting him for the last time before they head back to England.  
"Are you sure about this Stiyl?" Kanzaki asks.  
Stiyl looked at her and replied "He did what we couldn't do. I hate to admit it but he save her as we could not." as he looked at the sleeping Touma.

Touma woke up seeing Stiyl and Kanzaki and surprised to see the two visiting him.  
"Styil? Kanzaki? What are you doing here?" Touma asked the two.  
Stiyl just responded by lighting up another cigarette even though this is a hospital and replied, "We just come to see you before we gone. Don't think we're come to thank you for what you did."  
Touma let out a sigh and looked at them with a serious face.

Stiyl notices it and asked, "Why are you looking at us like that!"  
He and Kanzaki wondered what Touma gonna say next.  
"You know what? You two should confront Index and settle all this misunderstanding between you two and her. It is the best for all of you" Touma started preaching with a serious tone and gave them smile.

Stiyl and Kanzaki quiet after hearing what Touma is saying about. They know that is their own fault to let Index hurt, but they decided that they'll do it other time. Styil glared him back with a flame sword appears in his hand and pointed it at Touma and saying, "Look, you punk! You're not my father so don't you try to order us you got that!"

Touma sweating after seeing Stiyl's action and have a weak laugh after that. "C'mon! ... You also older than me, you should ..."

Before Touma finished his words the flame sword getting closer to him  
"I'M 14!" shouts Stiyl to Touma.  
"What? 14 Years old and ..." said Touma with disbelieve tone, but Touma stopped once again after the flame sword getting too close to him. Touma immediately shuts his mouth and Stiyl got out from there.

Kanzaki just says at him, "Well, thanks for the advice and please forgive Stiyl. He can be a bit cranky by the times. Anyway, we're going now." She said as the two leaves Touma's ward. After they left, Touma look outside the window, watching the cloud moves with some airplane passing through, There's something that he didn't tell them yet.

* * *

**An hour later,**

While Touma stares the vastness of the open sky through the window, there is a knock on the door and then a voice can be heard, "Sorry to intrude!"  
It was Mikoto's voice.  
"Touma! Are you okay?" Index came in.

"Did you enter the wrong room?" Touma tried to make his tone is extremely courteous, and puzzling; it's a probing voice. It's just like a tone used when someone is calling an unfamiliar person. The two girls looked at him with a worried face and Index asked, "Touma?"

"Who are you? Who is Touma? Is it my name?"  
The two looks at him with a worried expression, Mikoto started shouting at him "Hey! Can you remember us?"  
Then Index said, "Touma! Is me Index! Can you remember?" She said as she desperately try to convince Touma to remember.  
Touma act clueless and said, "Index? Is that a name? I'm sorry, I can't remember anything."  
The two muttered, "No...It can't be..." and the two started to cry.

Then Touma suddenly laughed and said to them, "Gotcha!" and continued to laugh as hard as he can. Mikoto and Index realized that Touma is playing with them, looks at each other and nodded and turned their glares at Touma. Touma immediately stopped laughing and notice the killing glare of the two girls.

"Umm...guys, can't you just take a joke?" He said as he started sweating again. The only sound that can be heard from that ward is a bite and a lethal punch. Heaven Canceler just arrived at Touma's ward as he saw two girls got out from the room while giving anger vibe. He entered just to see Touma with bite marks and punch marks with Touma looked dizzy.

"Ah Kamijou Touma, what happened to you?" Heaven Canceler asks.  
Touma just look at the doctor and muttered..."Fukou … Da"

_(By the way, how that boy knew that his friend would enter the hospital yesterday?)_ asked the frog-faced doctor to himself; as he remembered that yesterday, his step-grandson told him that the boy in front of him will come there with some wounds.

"Never mind …" as the frog-faced doctor entered the room just as Index and Mikoto exited. He had almost bumped into them. "I came because the nurse's call went off, but… Oh, now this is bad."

The boy's upper body had slipped from the bed, and he cried while holding the top of his head with both hands.  
"I'm gonna die. I'm really gonna die," he muttered to himself with such realism that it was frightening.

The doctor glanced back towards the open door to the hallway before turning back to Kamijou.

"Should you really have done that?"  
"Done what?" replied the boy.  
"You almost don't remember anything, do you? Even if you remembered, you can only remember things that happened in this last two weeks and probably some fragment of your past memories."

The transparent boy fell silent. The reality that God had created was not as kind and warm as what he had told that girl.

As a result of the magic that had afflicted them, the boy and girl had collapsed in the apartment and the two naming themselves magicians with a Level 5 ESPer had brought them to the hospital. The supposed magicians had told the doctors what had transpired, and the doctors had of course not believed them. The doctors had only told the boy all of it, because they felt he had the right to know.

To him, it was like reading someone else's diary. To him, it mattered not what someone else's diary said about a girl he could neither picture in his head nor recognize if he saw her.

What he had told her had been nothing more than something he had made up based on what someone else's diary had said. Even if it said that that right hand that was wrapped in bandages held a power that could destroy even the rules created by God…

He did not really believe it.

"But should I really have done that?" asked the transparent boy.

Even though it had been someone else's diary, it had been so enjoyable… and so heartbreaking. His missing memories would never come back, but he had somehow managed to think of that as a very sad thing.

"For some reason, I didn't want to make that girl cry. That was how I felt. I don't know what kind of feeling it was and I'll probably never remember, but that was how I felt all the same." The transparent boy gave a truly colorless smile. "Doctor, why did you believe that story? I mean, being a doctor is about as far as you can get from things like magicians and magic."

"Not necessarily." A proud look appeared on the doctor's frog-like face. "Hospitals and the occult have a surprisingly close relationship. …And I'm not talking about ghosts haunting hospitals. Depending on their religion, some people refuse to take blood transfusions, refuse surgery, and will sue you even though you saved their life. For a doctor, it is best to just do what the patient says when it comes to the occult."

The doctor smiled, though he did not know why smiled. When he saw the boy smile, he instinctively smiled back like a mirror image.  
Or perhaps it was the boy that was a mirror of the doctor. That was just how hollow the boy's smile was. It was like he could feel no sorrow.  
The boy was really, truly transparent.

"I may still remember more than you think."

The frog-faced doctor looked at the transparent boy in slight surprise.

"Your memories were 'killed', brain cells and all. You lucky enough to retain the memory of the last two weeks."

_(Still, What a ridiculous thing for me to say)_ thought the doctor.

But, he continued.

"To liken the human body to a computer, your hard disk was utterly fried. If there's no data left in your brain, just where are these memories supposed to be?"

Somehow, the doctor felt the boy's response would blow that ridiculous logic away.

"Isn't that obvious?" replied the transparent boy as he pointed his chest. "In my heart."

* * *

**_That's how the prologue ended ..._**

**_I'm thinking to skip Deep Blood Arc, but the story will continue like normal timeline. And Himegami still exist like the real story, I going to put some past that Touma experienced during Deep Blood Arc in the next chapter_**

**_Unlike the story before, I decided to make Touma lost almost all his memories. He only remembered the event from a week before he met Index and onward. I don't think all his memories gone, there's should be fragments even a little bit there. I think it's quite good enough._**

**_After this arc, I will prepared the modified Sister Arc ..._**

**_I hope you guys can understand and see you later with next story XD_**


	3. Experiment  Sister Arc Beginning

Dusk had set in. A lone girl, sprawled on the roof of a building to conceal her body, squinted slightly.

In her hands was a rifle which was unnatural for her- no, unnatural was already beyond questioning. Anyway, the length of the rifle was 184 centimeters. It easily surpassed the girl's height.

The Metal Eater MX.

This Barrett M82A1 anti-tank rifle held a legend of having blown up a tank from 2000 meters away during the Gulf War. This Metal Eater was the prototype model; a rapid-fire feature was forcibly added to it.

It was a brutal rifle which could smash a shoddy combat helmet into pieces with just the recoil, and the girl had practiced by using equipment known as Testament; after fourteen days, the training- rather, the data input- had reached its end. Afterward, she had operated on the Metal Eaters firing recoil, and had been successful in deriving the calculation formula needed to ward off the recoil smoothly with optimum efficiency.

After silencing her breath, the girl gazed at the "target" through her cold scope 600 meters away.

A fifteen to sixteen-year-old boy, whom was on his way back home, swinging his convenience store bag like he was bored. He had a thin, almost wire-like body and hair was white as the girl's delicate skin. The expression "if he was grabbed, he would break" fit quite aptly. That boy, from an outsider's point of view, would be seen as the sharp point of a knife.

It was understandable; the boy's official battles that were saved in the database all resulted in complete victories. Even more noteworthy was that he had never been hurt, never defended, and never evaded- not even once. In another word, he is a sharply polished blade. His only objective was to cut the enemy's flesh. His existence was not meant to be defensive.

Although the girl did not know the target's true name, his code name was _Accelerator_.

Within the great ability development institution, "Academy City", there were no more than seven people ranked Level 5, and even within that list, the boy's name stood at the very _top_. Incidentally, the girl definitely could not win by opposing him from the front- no, in Academy City, unless an underhanded method was used, there was probably no opponent on this planet who could possibly win against Accelerator through a straight up approach.

If she couldn't win head-on, it was best not to fight head-on.

In the end, such a thing like ESP was no different from moving one's limbs. Barring the inexperience of Level 0s which limited a large extent in control, the involvement of powers could be classified roughly into two categories:

One was "active", when the ability user himself commanded _the use of his powers_.  
The other was "passive", when the ability user sensed danger towards him.

If that was the case, then before the opponent could notice the fact that he was in danger and with one surprise attack, his life would be taken. Through this method, any sort of ability user could be defeated. Long-distance shooting was originally the method of Academy City's Judgment for the apprehension of rampaging ability users.

However they cut consciousness with rubber bullets, in contrast: this girl was cutting a life with steel-piercing bullets.

_(Wind eddies... vortexes from three directions. Correcting alignment one click to the right.)_

The girl muttered within her mouth while she fine-tuned the scope Missing was not an option. The opponent was the strongest Level 5; if the first attack missed and was sensed; at that point in time, the girl's defeat would be certain- no matter how much distance was between her and the target, no matter how far she escaped. The girl raised her finger to the trigger.

There was no hesitation. Even though the boy in front of the scope was a living human, when this trigger was pulled, the .50 caliber anti-tank bullets of this gun would rip through the sky at speeds of 1200 km/hr. Even if the boy's upper body would transform into pieces of flesh faster than sound itself and even though the girl surely understood that fact... there was no hint of hesitation on her face. Imposed upon those slender shoulders was one instruction.

Destroy the strongest Level 5 ESPer, "Accelerator", with long-distance shooting.

She pulled the trigger.

A thunderous roar, like that of a fireworks factory exploding, together with many shells, ripped the sky. Not considering that it was long-range shooting, the girl proceeded to fire on full-auto. She tenaciously warded off the recoil that could topple even large adults over; within a second, twelve shots were made with consistent pinpoint-accuracy.

The girl ignored the magazine that emptied within that second and observed the fate of the boy through the scope. Since the flow of the winds was stable, there was no way the bullets could miss. All twelve bullets fired should have been absorbed into the boy's back; that slender wire-like body ought to have burst into tiny chunks and scattered.

Right, **that naturally should be the case**.

The next instant, the Metal Eater in the girl's hands exploded.

**The shells that made a direct hit rebounded back. **The Metal Eater had burst from the inside into very small pieces.

Nevertheless, the girl did not have the ability to visually ascertain the incoming flying bullets. The facts that she understood at that moment were: the anti-tank rifle was destroyed by some sort of force, its countless sharp fragments now pierced her whole body, and her right shoulder, which had been pushing onto the Metal Eater's stock, had _something _go through it- simply put, it was severed.

Yet Accelerator, after taking the Metal Eater's shots, was unharmed. In the end, this long-range shooting was a failure- and Accelerator sensed it.

It was sufficient to understand that much- no, it was more than sufficient. The girl did not mind suffering the assault of pain that was like boiling water being poured over her head; there was no such leisure time. She went towards the building's emergency stairs with her tattered body.

At that point in time, when the shooting failed, was when the girl lost the 1-in-10,000 chance of victory; therefore, this retreat wasn't to reassess the situation. Simply put, she had no other option but to prolong her life, to extend her remaining time- even for a second, even for a short moment. The sound of footsteps did not reverberate in the dusk. The hunter was closing the distance between him and the dying girl with a definite silence.

The hunter against the hunted. The murder drama, in which positions turned around in just a moment, drew open the curtains.

* * *

**August 20, 6:10 PM.**

It is a midsummer's twilight, and Kamijou Touma is walking home alone, dead beat from the extra classes. He thought that even if there was a reason for it, going back to school for extra classes during this long summer vacation is harmful to his sanity.

Since those so-called "summer classes" usually started on the very first day of summer vacation, Kamijou probably was supposed to go to those classes from July 19th to July 28th as well.

Or at least, that was only the most likely case as far as he remembered. Touma had no memories of events prior to the event that made him lost his memories July 28th, he could only remembered things that happened from July 14th and even those just fragments. So, he felt like he was being punished for lessons that he did not skip himself.

What was up with his life?

Prior to 2 big events that happened from 20th July until yesterday, he skipped supplementary lessons and always ended at the same hospital, treated by same doctor and still can't avoid his misfortune. If he were asked what happened during those time, he really don't want to remember … really … if he can wished one wish to God, he wished his normal life, which is already full of misfortune, come back. Knowing that his luck won't let him go, he finally gave up and forced to pay all his debt that was caused by his misfortune.

Thirsty, he finally stopped in front of a juice vending machine that is standing along the path. This place and the vending that seemed very familiar to him … he just can't remember something important

_(Never mind!) _thinks Kamijou Touma as he takes out his wallet and looked at it.

There is a single ¥2000 bills, only that and no other thing.  
_(What is up with this? Is there no another choice?)_

He looked back at the juice vending machine and his wallet several times. That's right, he doesn't want to give up on it so soon; moreover, he is very thirsty now. But at same time he felt a chill when he tried to use his money to that vending machine. Kamijou Touma had slid in his precious ¥2000 bill into the vending machine and press the button.

_(... why on earth did the vending machine not react even one bit? …! DON"T TELL ME!)_

His hard-earned ¥2000 gone ... For a machine to swallow such a significant amount of money, and not give any response...

_(Wait a second! If I don't wrong, this is the malfunction vending machine from last time! No wonder this place seemed familiar! This also the place where my money lost in last week, thanks to this machine!) _Screamed Touma in his mind while turns the money return lever in vain.

His heart screams loudly, (_Fukou Da!)_

Academy City, a facility opposed to the supernatural that had been built in western Tokyo on some undeveloped land that had been quickly cleared; but still, anyone who sees Touma would think of something along the lines of "Ah! So there really are such (supernaturally) unlucky people in this world, huh"

Kamijou Touma is simply that luckless … he felt that he is really liked by the god of misfortune. A drooping and crestfallen Touma suddenly hears from behind the footsteps of a pair of loafers and a familiar sound.

"Hold it— you can't be standing stupidly in front of a vending machine. If you won't buy juice, then move it, move it. I can't do anything if I don't rehydrate for just a moment."

As soon as Touma thinks that he hears a sudden voice, which somehow familiar to him, from behind him; he already pushed aside by a girl's soft hand on his arm.

_(What, what-) _When Touma turns his head around, he sees a middle school girl. Shoulder-length light-brown hair, good looks that don't need make-up, a short-sleeved white blouse with a summer sweater, a gray pleated skirt... Tokiwadai middle school uniform.

But... to call that girl as Ojou-sama, in front of her would be quite awkward. Kamijou Touma immediately remembered what to call her, "Oh! It is you, Biri-Biri!"

This girl won't let he said that nickname so freely.

"My name is Misaka Mikoto! Try to remember, you total blockhead!"

The instant the girl shouts angrily to him, she unleashes a pale spark from her light-brown bangs. One cannot react fast enough by eyesight alone. But before Touma is struck by lightning, his body moves on instinct- as if the body, being repeatedly attacked by lightning, recalled through his experience against her … no! It is more correctly that she is the one that started their awkward relationship. As far as he can remember, this Biri-Biri usually chased him because he kept ignoring her challenge (which is troublesome for him).

As if shaking off a winged insect in front of his eyes, Touma swung his right hand horizontally like a back-fist. That alone totally repels and dissipated the lightning bolt, which was approaching close to 1 billion volts, like a column of water.

Imagine Breaker.

Be they ESPers, magi, anyone wielding "unknown powers", or even divine miracles, everything is negated when his right hand touches them; that's the Imagine Breaker's special power. Well, it supposed to be like that. But, this thing is also the MAIN cause of his always-misfortune as far as he can remembered. After delivering several attacks, Misaka Mikoto finally stopped.

"C'mon! Please give me a Break!" shouts Touma with his heart, begging for a mercy from this girl. Misaka puts her hand on her hips. "If you have no use for the machine, then move it. I'm gonna bust it up."

"Yeah! … Ah—" Touma remembers something, he looks back and forth between the machine and Misaka Mikoto.

Even without taking the girl in front of him in consideration, she can become a criminal for attempted homicide. But on the other hand, for him to not tell her that the vending machine gulps down money is something unforgivable. Well, seeing Mikoto lower her head in despair and made an outburst of anger approaching assault and murder... that would be scary.

"That vending machine somehow keeps on eating bills."  
"I know that!" Mikoto simply answered. On the contrary, Touma didn't know Mikoto's intention.  
"… Ha? You know it eats bills, yet you're still paying? Is that machine an Offertory box or something?"  
"IDIOT! There's a trick to that, an underhanded one that will have it spit out juice for free. Moreover, I have things to settle with this Vending Machine"

He has a bad feeling- a really bad feeling. "Underhanded trick"... He kept thinking about what kind of "trick" that she was using repeatedly every day. He also thinks about his foolish act to feeding ¥2000 bills into the malfunctioning machine and somehow make him hate himself for remembering it. Again, it can't be that this vending machine has some sort of malfunction! There must be explanation behind this. He only looked at Misaka Mikoto who started spinning and prepared to kick the vending machine.

"Chaser!" Along with that scream, she makes a raised, skirt-level kick into the side of the machine.

*Bang!* A painful clatter of something falling reverberates within the machine- A can pops out.  
"You know! Since it's worn down, the springs holding the juices have loosened. You can't choose which juice comes out, though— Hey! what's the matter?" asks Mikoto to disappointed Touma.

"Nothing …" Kamijou answered tonelessly.

Underneath her skirt are gym shorts. He felt that some of his dreams were destroyed … totally destroyed.  
_(Wait a second! What I'm thinking! I should get away from Aogami and Tsuchimikado!)  
_Touma put his right hand on his head andasked a question to her "'This Tokiwadai legend' Does every lady from Tokiwadai do it?"

Mikoto immediately replied "Most of the girls can't do that! A girl wouldn't even dream of that—"

"…" (_That is a very severe reality), _Touma thought until he remembers something important. "That's not what I mean! I'm asking if you brats were joining forces daily to destroy vending machines since that thing happens!"

Mikoto pouted while saying "It's fine, isn't it! What are you angry for? No real harm was done to you, right? This thing ever eat my 10... NEVER MIND IT!"

No answer from Touma, he didn't even response Mikoto's last answer.

"… Eh? Oh, speaking of which, you look like you keep losing money against this machine—" Stopping midway, Mikoto goes silent for a while. "...By any chance, have you already gotten something?"

Still no answer from him, Touma decided to let out all his tension from his body. No matter how angry he is, the ¥2000 won't return. That money was originally meant to buy fireworks for a certain white-clothed sister , a freeloader, waiting for him at the student dorm. This girl is the cause of his extra misfortune. At first, he decided to not keep her at his place; but since no place for her, Kamijou Touma finally let her lived at his place.

Kamijou Touma let out a sigh once more. Come to think of it, he should have kept it in his wallet- but it's no use thinking about it now.  
_(Losers therefore should act like losers), _thinks Kamijou as he dropped his shoulders and turned his back to Mikoto.

"How much did you lost?" asked Mikoto with sparkling eyes as she put her hand on Touma's shoulder.  
Kamijou Touma looked at her. He thinks that if he says "I lost ¥2000" in front of her, won't lead to "Well, that's too bad!". It would be more like a "Gahahawahahah!" And Mikoto takes on a more serious look for a bit (somehow, she feels a sense of responsibility).

"I won't laugh, I promise. While you're at it, I'll take back your lost money!"  
_(What's with her kindness?) _Thought Touma with eyes twinkling. This wouldn't have happened in the beginning had Mikoto not kicked the vending machine; Touma hadn't thought of this in the first place.

Moreover, when they first met, she always tried to kill him, can he trust her now? Excluding Index's case, he won't believe her. Probably… Another thing, he's a bit scared, though, of being labeled "The Idiot Who Lost ¥2000 to a Machine" But, Mikoto's words of "I won't laugh, I really won't laugh, I really, really won't laugh" convinced him to finally confess.

Touma told her with stammered voice "...2,000 yen."

"… 2,000 yen? Did you mean a ¥2000 bill? Wow… I wanna see! I really wanna see it! A not-yet-destroyed ¥2000 bill! Kukuku, ahahahahahahaha! So that's the vending machine's bug! Not even convenience stores accept ¥2000 bills nowadays, hahahahahahaha!"

Seeing Mikoto heat up to ridiculous levels, he is at wit's end as he shouts, "Liar!"

He shouldn't have told her about that ¥2000 bill. He should have exchanged it earlier.

"Hohoho! Well, then, let's wish it will spit that ¥2000 bill back out. I won't accept it if this piece of junk spits out two ¥1000 bills."

Standing in front of the vending machine, Mikoto slowly places her right palm in front of the coin input slot. Suddenly, Touma thinks of a question "Hey! Hey! How are you going to get the money back from this machine?"

"'How?', Like this!" as Mikoto put her right palm at the machine. Touma remembered her ability and knew the outcome already "... No way! Hey! Stop … "

Too late … In an instant, a lightning-like pale spark jumps out from Mikoto's right palm, and hits the vending machine.

*Bam!* Along with this terrible sound, the unreasonably heavy vending machine shakes from side to side. Black smoke billows out from the cracks of the machine's inner workings like those clouds of smoke seen in manga.

Kamijou Touma pales. his face color turned ghastly pale. He will be labeled as a criminal now. Lots of juice cans have poured out from that machine continuously. Mikoto smiles while saying "Hey! The ¥2000 bill didn't come out, but at least ¥2000 worth of juice came out; is this OKAY- Hey, what's with your get away! Oi!"

Touma does not dare turn around. He is running at full speed to get away, from that vending machine. He knew when various misfortunes will strike. He usually sees the future- the outcome- one second ahead.

_(Sh, shit! I should have expected this earlier—! This Kamijou Touma will never meet any luck!)_

He thinks of this for an instant while shouting his usual phrase "Fukou Da!" The usual vending machine that yields a silent alarm, screams out through the vicinity at full power.

* * *

Kamijou Touma had been running for about ten minutes and he finally sits on a bus stop bench in the business district. As he sits there, dead tired after running, he gazes up at the August sky. Within this orange-dyed sky floats a blimp, the X-Vision attached to its belly showing today's Academy City news.

But, when Touma started relaxing, a voice comes from nowhere "Here!"  
Suddenly a juice flied to him, but Touma with his reflex caught it easily and looked at the juice and the person in front of him.  
"Why don't you take these juice cans already? These were yours, right?" said Misaka Mikoto as she started throwing the rest of the juice cans.  
"You know what! The moment I accept the juice, I rapidly evolve from a spectator into an accomplice and that scares me... Ow! Hot!" as Touma throws a can that he accepted "Why is that hot shiruko mixed in?"

"There's a malfunction, so you can't even choose what juice will come out!" replied Mikoto  
"Do you feel clear malice in black soy bean cider and soy milk?"  
"Huh? That's nothing. You should be thankful; we're lucky that the two juices from hell, guarana green juice and strawberry oden, didn't even come up."

"Lucky, eh~ This Kamijou Touma totally don't have what you say as luck" said Touma as he looked at another side; at same time, Mikoto sat beside him.  
"Ah! I want this 'plum cider', so I take it" said Mikoto as she takes a juice can, while Touma ignored her.  
"You know, even if it's only one can, you shouldn't always be running away- or how should I put it...? Even if I'm really strong, can you just think of me as some weakling and look down on me? Try to see it that way and call me Mikoto-san, Okay!" added Mikoto

Touma tried to remember what he knew about Mikoto, but it's only bad memories. He looked at her "Yeah, Whatever! By the way, what do you doing lately? Index asking me about your whereabouts, you know... Especially after that festival in your dorm, we never see you again after that."  
"Oh! … I have some ... 'troubles' that I must finish. About Index, I will visit her later, and why you asking me that question? Miss me? You finally wanna fight me seriously?" asked Mikoto with a grin on her face.

"Uh~ I'm rather not see and fight you again!" replied Touma weakly, again he remembered Mikoto's expression when she tried to answer that question, It like something bothering her.

"Oh right! You shouldn't have shown off that you defeated me, Misaka Mikoto, the Railgun. And if that happens, you shouldn't be standing while apologizing in front of me. But you did that, right? From then on, everyone has that in their minds forever. They would say, 'Ah, that Misaka Mikoto, wasn't she defeated by a boy who looks like he's been chased by a Chihuahua?'" said Misaka as she downs the palm cider.

She continued "You defeated me. If that's the case, you not taking responsibility as the winner would be worrisome. I, one of the only seven known Level 5s of Academy City, defeated by such a boy... I could stick to that and announce it openly, you know!"

(You defeated me?)  
(While I have no memory of it beside of the chasing, what exactly what did I do that would make a girl tell me 'you should take responsibility'—!)

"Uh, uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…"

Touma tried to remember the thing that Mikoto meant, but he couldn't remember it at all.

"Why are you groaning like that?" Mikoto asked, exasperated. "Then again, you must be irritated, too. After all, it seemed like it was pulled from some shounen manga."

Mikoto folded her arms angrily and sighed, though Touma didn't see it.

"I never intended to actually hit you, but you guard perfectly against all attacks as if expecting them to hit you badly… such great technique. Putting aside my being snobbish and annoyed, the fact that it has an effect is unforgivable."

_(She never expected to hit me? Does that mean our power relationship is like that of a parent laughing while he's calming down his child who is recklessly flailing his hands? Is that it?)_

Even though he was facing an Electromaster, he never once surrendered to this girl? He could only remember he ran away from her on daily basis.

"Somehow, you're the guy who hates being self-confident when the time comes," Mikoto says in an uninterested tone. "Enough already... Here, drink it up! If you were a kouhai who was presented with Mikoto-sensei's personal gift, you would have fainted."

"Faint? This is no shoujo manga, so there's no way we're in a girls' school-type romance. Moreover, I'm older than you!" replied Touma with uninterested tone.  
For some reason, Mikoto averts her eyes "... If it at level of shoujo manga, I will call it cute. Do you know what I called in Tokiwadai by my own roommate?" says Mikoto as she looked very depressed.

"Onee-Sama?"

Resounding across unexpectedly, a girl's bell-like voice hits Mikoto; her face looks as if she's been hit from behind with ice.  
"Speak of the devil" said Mikoto with low voice to Touma while looking at where the sound comes from.  
"Guh" sound gone from Kamijou's throat as it's muted by an unexpected shock.  
_(What the hell—!)_ Kamijou turned around at full force.

"Huh?" as he sees a short distance over a girl— probably a freshman middle schooler— standing, wears the same uniform as Mikoto's.  
_(Biri-biri's kouhai?) _thought Touma as he looked at her  
That twin-tailed brunette looked at Touma and she dropped her bag as she saw something that very shocking to her.  
She started screaming hysterically "Haaaaaaaaaa! No way ... Onee-Sama is pretending that she went to make-up lesson ... Only to be rendezvousing with a man!"

Mikoto shouts angrily at her "Hey! Wait a minute, Kuroko! What you mean! Do you think he is my boyfriend!" while pointing at Touma suddenly.  
*Pachin*, a spark is unleashed from Mikoto's hair, it is showing that she is really angry now.  
_(Oi! Why am I also getting into this stupid situation?)_ Thought Touma as he stood up.

Kuroko,twin-tailed brunette and Mikoto's kouhai, is showing a sweet smile as she is approaching Touma at a frightening speed. She is finally in front of Touma and started introducing herself "Pleasure to meet you, sir! I am Onee-sama's squire, Shirai Kuroko. I'm the soft dew that gently watches over Onee-Sama."

"If you intend on 'hitting on' Onee-Sama ..." her face suddenly changed from a sweat smile to evil and full-murderous intend glare "Please check with me first."  
Touma swore he ever felt this chill before, it the same feeling that pointed at him when he brought Mikoto back to her dormitory at 20th July. Wait, is it 20th July? He couldn't remember that clearly.

_(Don't tell me she is the one who gave me those glares that time) _thinks Touma as he started sweating.

Suddenly, she strongly gripped Kamijou's hand with both of her own. "Ha?" Kamijou turned his eyes to his grasped hand, worrying about his reaction. "By the way, is this degree of nervousness a warning sign of flirtatious tendencies?"

"Pfft! I not her boyfriend you know!" Touma burst into laughter. Mikoto, who sat beside him slowly stood up and, "WHY — YOU—! This weirdo is not my boyfriend!"

Along with those words of an injured heart, a lightning bolt is discharged from Mikoto's bangs. Before the bolt could land a direct hit, Shirai Kuroko let go of Touma's hand and steps back. In the next instant, the bolt hits nothing as she disappears into thin air.  
There is only one explanation of this, teleportation. But Touma can't relax as some of the attack almost hit him, but Touma managed to dispel them easily.

"Hohoho~ That's right! My Onee-Sama wouldn't be on a date." the girl appeared again, standing on top of one of light pole near there while looking at Touma with a murderous glare. She started muttering "Right... There's no way Onee-Sama fall in love with him."

_(Just what my fault until I get this glare!) _screamed Touma inside his head.  
"Well then... Please take care yourself, Onee-Sama...!" as she finally teleported away from there. Before gone, she gave Touma farewell glare. Touma confused why that girl kept giving him that kinda glare while Mikoto says "Tch, and she had to use teleportation at such a bad time. If this strange rumor spreads, I won't acknowledge it, dammit!"

_(Oi... Oi... Are they really from that famous Tokiwadai Middle School! The school that idolized by all students of Academy City... Is that the way all rich girls supposed to act! I even saw her panties.)_ thought Touma while scratching the back of his head _(Come to think of it, My mental image about the school already broken thanks to Biri-Biri...)_

"What is it?" asked Mikoto after pissed off at her kouhai's appearance in front of them.  
"Nothing!" replied Touma as he sat again, Mikoto followed him. She realized that Touma somehow happy for no reason and asked angrily "Hey! Why do you looked so happy like that!"

"Why? This Kamijou Touma isn't happy at all after learn that Biri-Biri also have her own misfortune!" replied Touma with a smile.  
"BUT YOU SMILED! YOU WANNA DIE!" shouted Mikoto while Touma just swung his right hand in front of her, tried to calm her down.  
It continued until someone approaches from back and calls Mikoto.

"Onee-sama?"  
"Again!" shouted Touma as he turns his head, and sees standing behind the bench another Misaka Mikoto.  
"Eh? Th-The same face? There are 2 of you?"

He thought that the one standing there is no different from "Misaka Mikoto". Shoulder-length light-brown hair, good looks and features, a short-sleeved white blouse, a summer sweater, and a pleated skirt. From features and uniform to accessories, there's no doubt about it: that's Misaka Mikoto standing there. But, Touma returns his gaze to the one sitting beside him. Shoulder-length light-brown hair, good looks and features, a short-sleeved white blouse, a summer sweater, and a pleated skirt. While that's expected, he's looking at a seated "Misaka Mikoto".

Speaking of differences, the girl standing behind the bench is hanging her night-vision goggles near her forehead as if they were swimming goggles, and the emotional state of her eyes doesn't stay at one point.

"Misaka no 2!" shouted Touma as he startled. He's looking back and forth between the two "Misaka Mikoto"s. Compared to the similarly startled face of the one sitting beside him, the one standing behind the bench is staring back expressionlessly. "'I'm her 'Imouto'(little sister),' says Misaka immediately. "

_(That's one strange way of saying it)_, Touma thought it but he doesn't say out loud. There are too many people around Kamijou Touma with weird speech expressions, such as Tsuchimikado with his nya~ or Aogami with his fake kansai; even he has a hard time recognizing one.

"Umh~ Imouto, to refer yourself as 'Misaka' when talking about yourself? I don't refer to Misaka as 'Misaka' since we don't use our formal names. Wouldn't it cause chaos even at home if you call yourself 'Misaka'? Your name should be Misaka something right?" asked Touma as he starts confused. "'But Misaka's name is still Misaka,' as Misaka would answer immediately."

_(No way would Misaka call herself "Misaka"; there must be an unwritten rule for this.) _Kamijou looked to Mikoto sitting beside him for assistance, but he is surprised once more; Mikoto is somehow glaring at her silent sister. "I, I see, Imouto. But you two sure look alike— alike as in same height and weight, right?"

Mikoto is glaring at Imouto for some time.

"'Our genetic makeup is the same,' as Misaka would answer. 'Moreover, inquiring about a girl's body weight is rude,' as Misaka would speak her mind."  
Mikoto is continuously glaring at Imouto for some time.

"…" _(What a strange person)_, thought Touma once more. "Genetic huh~ Ah! You must be twins. I'm also have friends who are twins. But, It's the first time I've seen a very identical twins. Well, what are you going to do, Imouto-chan? Returning to Nee-chan?"

Mikoto is continuously, _continuously _glaring at Imouto for some time. "Misaka came to see and confirm the one with the same power detected within an area of radius 600 m with Misaka as the center..."

If they're identical twins, their similar powers manifesting is plenty enough to think about. And though he's thinking about it... Touma is especially scared of Mikoto's gaze.

_(Oh, shit! Is she's the type who hates her family being seen by her friends on parents' day?) _Touma thought.

"'...And in this place, I find a destroyed vending machine and you two carrying large quantities of juice. I never would have thought Onee-sama would take part in theft' says Misaka would say with a tut-tut," Misaka-imouto continues while standing at attention. Because of the strange accuse, Touma has no choice but to continue. "Hey, Your big sister is the culprit, and I'm only an eyewitness, you know." replied Touma while pointing at Misaka Mikoto.

'Investigating the vending machine by the electric shock, I found the fact that you had touched it last.' as Misaka would thrust the evidence at you." The word that Misaka Imouto said, managed to make Touma stepped back "For real? You can even tell that!"

"'That's a lie,' as Misaka would frankly answer."

_(Please help me!) _As Kamijou Touma looked at Misaka Imouto, he continually shook shoulder of Misaka Mikoto, who sitting beside him. But no matter how much time passes, the Mikoto beside him does not react at all.

_(Hmm? That's weird!) _Kamijou Touma thought. (_We've met Imouto for only about 10 minutes, but as far as I remember, Mikoto's the type who would continue speaking automatically on her own initiative. Does Mikoto probably have something unspeakable about her?)_

Without warning, the silent Mikoto raises her voice in explosive anger "You! Why are you wasting time here!"  
Touma is taken by surprise by the deafening scream from the side, looked at Misaka Mikoto.  
"'If you asking for why … I'm here for training,' says Misaka with a clean answer"

"Training..." Mikoto cuts her breath short as if she was struck from behind, and turns her eyes away. She's murmuring something like "No way", but it doesn't reach Touma's ears.

"? If it's training, is Imouto-san entering the Public Morals Committee (Judgment)?"  
If a student's status is "vacant" and "in training", the first thing to come to mind is probably "Judgment". As one looking at Mikoto's power would understand, such a faculty is far better at killing than a lowly knife. For the 2.3 million students under Academy City, there are special organizations that deal with the inevitable berserk ESPer.

There are two positions that take down berserk ESPers: the users of next-generation weapons, the teachers' corps called the Guards (Anti-Skill), and the students chosen from every school called the Public Morals Committee (Judgment).

Accordingly, to join their professional ranks, one must sign nine contracts, pass thirteen different types of aptitude tests, and complete four months of training … that's so far what Kamijou Touma know.

Because he is a Level 0 and he don't want his life disturbed by such things, he really avoid to be a Judgment member. Mikoto clapped her hands in front of her; as she does that, she totally averted her eyes from Touma.

"Ah, aaah, Judgment? Ah — ah — that, that. You've been doing this because of that, lots of problems, eh, the lot of them- or, should I say, worn out?" She said that in a lovely, yet suspicious tone of voice.

"Hey. Somehow, you're talking as if you're suddenly dismissing information like it's only from a crank call." analyzed Touma after he heard Mikoto's suspicious tone of voice.

"Heh, I'm not dismissing it; I'm merely stating it clearly, properly, exactly." Mikoto looked at her own imouto. "We've got lots of talking to do, lots of it. Hey, Imouto, can you come with me for a bit?"

"Ha? No, even Misaka has a schedule to stick to and—"  
"Enough already." Mikoto looks at Imouto dead-on. "Get over here."

That strange, flat voice... Touma somehow sensed it, he started worrying for something he didn't know. Mikoto has no reason to do something special. She's only seeing her imouto's face and had said only a word with a laugh. But that single word. He was taken into that point, that swirl of suspicious feelings going through Touma's heart.

Mikoto looked at Touma, she is already back to being the ordinary noisy middle school girl. "Well, then, we're going this way. You have to mind your dorm curfew, too, you know!"

_(I don't but...)_ Mikoto left a sitting Kamijou behind, wrapping her arms around her imouto's shoulder. The twins began to walk onward down the wide avenue lane. Touma instinctively began to follow after Mikoto- but stops himself. Sitting back on the bench, he mindlessly muttered while gazing at the blimp floating through the night sky, "A rather complicated family, I guess..." he softly breathes.

But inside his own heart, he still feels doubt and suspicion about Mikoto's action and her twin.

* * *

Kamijou Touma finally arrived at his dorm safely with several misfortune happened to him during his way to come back. He has several problem when he tried to use the lift since he brings a lot of juice cans; no other choice, he finally used stairs to go to his place at seventh floor. Tired Kamijou Touma finally arrived only to learn that fleas got onto Sphinx, Index's cat pet.

Index took care it after a certain accident in the past … An order that forced Stiyl Magnus, a magician from British Puritan Church and Index's friend in the past, to include Touma from science side to help him. Something about saving a certain girl from a defector from Roman Catholic Church, one of the world's three largest Christian organizations.

Back to main topic, Touma finally learned that fleas take charge of his room after being told by Index.  
"First a vending machine has a rebellion! Now, fleas take charges my room … Fukou Da!" as Touma sighed at his misfortunes. There is no way for him to enter his room now. He must get rid the fleas first. He put the juice cans outside the room and went to buy something to get rid the fleas.

"I will come back! Don't do anything stupid!" shouted Touma to Index.  
"Oi! Touma ..." shouted Index to Touma, but he already gone from there.

Touma is walking to the nearest store near his dorm, actually there is a pet store that just been opened recently. He decided to go there to buy some anti-flea medicine. But his bad luck plays once again, he suddenly steps on what seems to be a banana peel lying on the ground.  
_-Who the hell dumped that thing on the ground in the first place?-(A/N Reactions)_.

With his entire weight already on his foot, it is too late to stop. Kamijou, having stepped on the banana peel, flops onto his back.  
"Gyarghh! That's hurts!" says Touma as he is lying on the ground, with his head and back still pulsing with pain after his body hit on the rough paved ground.  
Touma tried to stand up and he saw something white with blue stripes as soon as he recovers his vision and for a moment, he stares at this 'unique patter' and though is he suffers from color blindness.

But a voice prompted him to recover from his stare, "'Misaka didn't know that you are interested in blue striped panties', Misaka said cynically to Onee-sama's friend."

Touma's face began to blush red as a hot pepper as soon he realized he was seeing a girl's panties and what's more shocking, he saw Mikoto, staring at him.  
"Uwaahh! S-Sorry Biribiri I thou- ... huh?"

Touma stopped as he noticed that 'this Mikoto' isn't sending electrical bolts and he realized her monotonous stare as well the voice from 'this Mikoto' Another thing, he sees a night vision goggles in her hands and deduces that she is actually Mikoto's twin.

"Oh! It's you, Imouto... *Sigh* I thought you are your sister." He said as he sighed with relief and then he continued to ask "By the way, where is Mikoto?"  
"'...Mikoto, is it?' as Misaka would ask back. Aah, you mean Onee-sama, is it?" Imouto asks Touma and he nodded.

_(As always, she's setting her own pace),_ Kamijou thought until he realized something.  
"What are those tough military goggles for?" asks Touma as he points to Misaka Imouto's night vision goggles.  
"'Misaka doesn't have the skill to follow Onee-sama's different electric or magnetic fluxes, so this device is important for visualizing them,' as Misaka would explain thoroughly."

Kamijou Touma couldn't understand that kind of complicated word and silent for a moment  
_(Don't think that anything becomes polite when you use honorifics), _Kamijou's heart grumbled.  
"'Temperature and humidity were high, so I took off the equipment. But when necessity is felt, it will be put back on,' as Misaka would suggest."  
As Misaka-Imouto mutters alone, she hangs the goggles back onto her forehead.

"Hm, eh? But you, weren't you carried off by your Aneki (another word of Onee-Sama) a while ago?"  
'This Misaka just walk from there', as Misaka explained to Onee-sama's friend" Misaka-Imouto points at the direction of the street. Somehow, it is an entirely different direction from where he met her for the first time. Touma let out a sigh, "Whatever."

"By the way, can you help with something?"  
After that, he explained his purpose to buying an anti-flea medicine and surprisingly, Misaka Imouto agreed.

* * *

**A Few Hours Later,**  
After buying several anti-flea products from a nearby pet store with several foods from another nearby with the help of Misaka Imouto, the two headed back to his dorm.  
Surprisingly Misaka Imouto recommend several things that able to help Touma with his flea problem, like using a fog-type pesticide for pest extermination.  
"'About the cat problem, let this Misaka handle it!' says Misaka while ensure Onee-Sama's friend."  
"Really? Okay! Please come with me!" says Touma to Misaka Imouto

On the way back, they saw news on one of the blimps floating around Academy City showing the news on the recent Middle-Eastern conflict and also other conflicts around the world.  
(_The world is indeed in a mess.)_ Touma thought as he and the very much alike Misaka Mikoto's twin, known as Misaka Imouto, arrived at his dorm.  
"Well Imouto-san, this is my dorm." He said to her and all that she can do is nodded, which proves to be awkward for Touma. In the end, the two entered the lifts and arrived at his floor to his room.

* * *

A Certain Highschool ... Inside a certain room, a certain unexplainable cute and little teacher, known as Tsukuyomi Komoe, started her lecture. In that class, there are only 3 students. They all ended up there because they skipped their supplementary lessons. And now they all must pay their debt. She kept talking and stopped after saw a certain high schooler started sleeping in her class.

"Kamijou-Chan! Are you listening?" asked Komoe-Sensei to her student. One of 'the three idiots of the class', also known as 'Delta Force', Kamijou Touma finally responded. This certain black spiky hair started whining after scolded by his teacher "I am, Komoe-Sensei ... but, it not like I can gain power or fortune for my life from listening"

The other Delta Force members finally speak.  
"Kami-yan is a Level 0 after all" said Aogami, the blue hair dude, while spinning the pen between his fingers  
"What can't increased won't increase nya~" continued Tsuchimikado, the blonde hair dude.  
Komoe started pouting and replied back "But,but, You can't stop improving something you could only because you don't have power and give up that easily"

She started giving them several examples about low level ESPers, who finally become high level ESPer.  
The example is Misaka Mikoto, 3# Level 5, who started everything as a Level 1.  
"Her huh? I never know that!" replied Touma as he seemed not surprised at all.  
"Come to think of it, How you befriend with Misaka-san in first place?" asked Komoe-Sensei.

She met her when Touma brought Index with Mikoto. Aogami and Tsuchimikado surprised after learned the fact from their Sensei.

"What! Kami-yan is hooked an Ojou-Sama? Moreover, A level 5? Damn you Kami-yan! How far that harem meters of your will stopped" shouted Aogami angrily at him  
"Nya~ I also just know it now!" added Tsuchimikado.  
"Oi oi! Knock it off! And Aogami! I already told you that I don't even have any harem!" shouted Touma angrily.  
The three started making noise and must repay everything from the start with extra lesson.

* * *

After being lectured again by Komoe-sensei 'till evening that day, Kamijou Touma immediately headed home right after saying good bye to Komoe-sensei and his two other 'Delta Force' friends.  
"*sigh*... Fukou Da!" He lamented about his own misfortune after what he had going through at school.  
"Anyway! Better get back before 'that freeloader' bite my head again from hunger." Touma said it to himself as he looked at his time on his phone.

While heading to his usual route back to his dorm, he saw a familiar girl, wearing Tokiwadai uniform, squatting in front of a box.  
_(Biri-Biri?)_ He thought as he decided to say hi to her. But, he saw a familiar military like goggle and assumed that is her imouto. (_...! Ah~ Imouto!)_ "Man, I really can't tell the difference without the goggles."  
"Yo Misaka Imouto! Thanks for yesterday." He greets and says thank Misaka Imouto, referring to the flea problem yesterday.

Yesterday, she helped Touma with the flea problem and Index meet with her. Surprisingly, Index able to guess that 'the Misaka' that came there wasn't Mikoto in single glance, making Touma wondering how she able to differentiating 'the twins' Again, the reason probably because Index's perfect memories. She is handling the Sphinx flea's problem first with a very unique way, by electrocutes Sphinx with a specific frequency of electricity and threw the fog-type pesticide inside Touma's room.

After finishing the flea problem, she immediately went back; Leaving Index with awesome impression.

After remembering what happened yesterday, Touma stood next to her. Misaka Imouto looked towards the source of the voice and saw Touma standing next to her.  
"'Yesterday? Oh that day', Misaka remembers."  
Then she continued, "'Your compliments were not my objective,' answers Misaka" While turning back to look at the box.

"Oh I see." Touma made a weak smile and scratching his black spiky hair.  
He turned to direction Misaka Imouto is looking at and saw a black kitten in the box and saw Misaka Imouto trying to feed the kitten with a piece of bread.  
Touma asked Misaka Imouto, "What, you're not going to feed it with that?"  
Misaka Imouto turns again and stands up while saying, "'You can feed it if you want', Misaka suggests."  
"I don't mean that." Touma said back while scratching his head again.

She muttered, "Impossible."  
"What?" Touma asks, (_Just what she mean by that?)_  
"'I have a flaw, it probably impossible for Misaka to feed this to the cat' concludes Misaka while pointing on herself."  
Touma looks at Misaka Imouto, who started wearing her goggles, with a curiosity of what she mentioned about her own flaw.

"'Misaka's body passively generates a weak magnetic field; Normal humans cannot sense it, but animal seems to be affected by it,' as Misaka pointed her own flaw."  
"So, you saying that your body produce magnetic fields and the animals avoided you?" Touma said to make it all easier.  
Misaka Imouto only nodded and said, "That's why I suggesting that you feed it', Misaka explains."  
Touma froze at what she meant, "W-What!"

"'At this rate, this cat will be taken away to an animal shelter,' indicates Misaka"  
Touma started groggy while answering Misaka Imouto "You ... are ... right, but ..."  
He can feel something chilly as he looked at Misaka Imouto's eyes  
"'Do you know how animals taken to an animal shelter are treated?' presses Misaka"  
Touma started sweating a lot and sweating more after Misaka Imouto explained everything.

* * *

Awhile later, Touma and Misaka Imouto walk together while Touma is carrying the black kitten with him.  
The reason is what Misaka Imouto explained earlier.  
"H-Hey! Why did it ends up like this! Fukou da..." Touma said as he feels being forced to help her.

But after let out a sigh, he says to Misaka Imouto, "Anyway, this is your cat now, so you're responsible to give it its name."  
Misaka Imouto continued to walk while asks, "My own...cat?"  
"Yeah your own cat!" Touma replied.  
Misaka Imouto suddenly gave the kitten a name without any difficulty, "Dog"  
"Dog!" Touma surprised.

"'This black cat will be known as 'Dog',' declares Misaka"  
"'A cat, yet 'Dog'... hehe..." Misaka Imouto said as she make a monotonous tone of laughter.  
_(Creepy! So Creepy!_) thought Touma while looking at her.  
"Umm, Imouto? Let's be more serious! How about other name for that? Something more formal, more majestic ..." Touma suggested her while kept smiling.

Misaka Imouto looked at him and answered, "'Tokugawa Ieyasu?' asks Misaka to the person, who insisted Misaka to change the black cat's name"  
Sense of logic just been broken down and make Touma started whining  
"Umm...that's too formal ... That's too majestic, okay?" Touma replied back.  
Misaka Imouto pauses before suggesting another name, "Schrödinger, then."  
Touma took a step back from her while saying "It's the most taboo name for a cat ..."

* * *

He saw a bookstore and thought of buying a guide to taking care of cats for Index, since she also pets a cat named Sphynx.  
"You wait here! I'm going to buy a way to care cats for Index, you know the nun you met at my dorm. It probably will be useful for you" Touma explained as he pointed to the bookstore. He realized Misaka Imouto keep looking at him "'I would like to remind you, just in case, but mistreating the lives of cats is a crime under the Animal Protection Law,' warns Misaka."  
_(Ugh~ I can't understand her sometimes ... Is there no normal people around me? Is everyone who I interact with never even have sense of normal person?)_ thought Touma.

At several places, at same time, multiple people started sneezing and wondering on what actually happened.

Before he entered, he looked at the kitten he's holding on and turned to Imouto, "Sorry! Can you hold it for a sec?"  
Misaka Imouto replied, "As I mentioned before, I'm not able to touch the-!"

She seemed shocked when she saw Touma throws the cat to her.  
The black cat started spinning to her direction and she quickly grabbed it.

"Don't worry, you have touched it right? The cats dislike you because your magnetic field? Then overcome that barrier, and true friendship will born!" He said while clenching his right hand and giving Misaka Imouto support. Touma entered the bookstore while smiling at her, who is taking care the cat now. Misaka Imotou let out a sigh, "How reckless, throwing a cat like that ... What with that kind of mentality,' as Misaka questioned the boy's action."

She suddenly realized and sensed something deadly behind her. She turned and looked at a white haired albino boy, looking at her with a deadly grin and look. It like a beast, who ready to kill its prey. But at same time, someone approached him. Someone who exactly looked like Misaka Imouto. She wasn't Misaka Mikoto ... That's for sure.

Misaka Imouto put down the kitten and walked to the nearby alley while the boy appeared. Inside the store, Touma finally found a good book but he realized that he didn't take enough money and he left his ATM card at his place. as he got out from the bookstore, he started lamenting his bad luck

"Fukou Da! I should anticipate this thing first! Well! Since my place isn't far away from here and this shop still opened until later, better ... Huh?"

Touma stopped after realizing the black cat, which is put near the store, started meowing.

_(Weird? Where is she? And, Why she left this cat alone?) _asked Touma to himself as he was walking away from there and carrying the black cat. He stopped! He stopped after feeling something strange. Even though, it's not clear ... He could hear it. Gun shots! He looked around and inspecting his surrounding and he stopped after saw an alley near there. After he took some courage, he decided to inspect it

_(I hope this not another part of my misfortune.)_

The black cat, which Touma carried, jumped from his hand and started walking in front of him. Touma decided to follow it; They kept walking to inner side of the alley until he heard a very loud voice. A scream! He heard a scream! And he started running while taking the black cat once more.

* * *

**Several minutes before,**  
When the gun shot heard by Touma, Misaka Imouto is carrying a machine gun while shooting her target. No one know how she get it, but she is running from someone right now. An albino boy is chasing her right now; he is _Accelerator_, Academy City no.1 ESPer.

"Why are you kept running?" asks Accelerator as he was getting close to her.

The girl kept running while turned back and delivered some shots; several of those shots hit her target. But something unexpected happened, the shots are reflected back. She finally down as the shots, which reflected back, hit her abdomen and her right arm. They are giving her deep wounds. While Misaka Imouto was holding her wounds, Accelerator kept moving closer to her.

"Now a question. What am I, Accelerator, doing exactly?" asked Accelerator as he started checking Misaka Imouto.

Imouto released some shots, but the attack reflected back. Destroying her gun that she used to guard the attack. She threw the gun to Accelerator, but it shattered. Something invisible guarded Accelerator. When the gun destroyed, Imouto used the chance to run away from there and delivered some electricity to hold Accelerator back. But, her attack reflected back to her and paralyzed her. Making her to fall down. The last word that comes out from her after her attacked reflected by Accelerator "Reflection"

The albino boy is getting closer to her "Wrong answer! That's only a part of my skill and it's not quite true nature of my skill."  
The boy gave her the answer "The answer is 'vector change'. All kinds of 'vectors' can be changed with just the touch of my skin. I only set it on 'reflect' as default."  
The boy looked at his victim and touched one of her wounds "Now, time for consolation prize question"  
The girl only felt piercing pain as the boy put his right index finger on her wound.

"I'm now touching the flow of the blood inside your body." answered Accelerator and that answer surprised the Imouto.  
"If I reversed the direction of the flow, what will happen to a human's body?"  
Accelerator started smiling manically "A correct answer and you will be given a peaceful ... slumber ..."  
There only one answer to that and whatever happened she will ... die.

* * *

"What happening here?" asked Touma as he finally arrived at the scene.

"Huh? It seems another people come here at bad time, huh?"

Touma could feel it, he recognized this voice somewhere. He looked at a white hair boy, but he couldn't see his face well.  
No, he actually can see it, but his eyes fixed at another direction. A girl, Misaka Imouto's body ... or rather dead body in tragic condition.  
Blood coming everywhere from her body and her head ...

"Ugh!"

Touma wanted to puke after saw everything, but a cold voice talked to him "Seems you not part of this [Experiment] huh~ Too bad! You will die here!"  
Touma looked up and the boy looked at his face ... The killer's face. His body started shaking, Touma wanted to run away.

The killer surprised as he recognized the face of the boy and let out a voice "Kamijou … Touma?"  
_(What?!)_ thought Touma as he disbelieved the killer knew him.  
The two boys, 'one who remembered' and 'one who forget' stared to each other face to face; looking at 'the opponent' in front of them.

At same time, several girls started showing up and moving there.


	4. Experiment  Sister Arc Final

_(What's going on here?! He is one of my acquaintances?!) _thought Touma as he tried to grasp the situation.  
The albino boy started talking "Well- Well, it is really you, Kamijou Touma"  
Unable to think clearly, Kamijou Touma finally let out a roar  
"W-What is going on here! What are you even doing here!?" Touma demanded an explanation.

Accelerator swiped his hair and replied "It's none of your business here, brat! Get out of here."  
Touma snapped, he couldn't receive that kind of answer after saw what happened in front of him, "OH HELL ITS MY BUSINESS NOW! WHY DO YOU KILL HER!?"  
Accelerator sneered and replied with sadistic voice "Her? As far as I know, she's just a doll."

Hearing that, Touma gritted his teeth and prepared his right hand.  
_(I will stop you!) _thought Touma as he took a step forward.

Suddenly, a girl exactly identical as the one Accelerator killed appeared behind Accelerator, another Misaka Imouto. Touma couldn't believe his eyes, but the one behind Accelerator is Misaka Imouto ... but the one who dead also Misaka Imouto.

"H-How this is possible? W-What the meaning of this?" as Touma demanding an answer, other footsteps can be heard. There are more than one people there, and Touma immediately looked back ... Misaka Imouto ... And so many of them, probably around twenty or more of Misaka Imouto.

"M-Misaka Imouto!" Touma shouted as he saw another 'Misaka' appeared.

"J-Just W-What ... are you?" Touma couldn't say anything that fit his words again as he was getting confused with what going on.  
"'For security purpose, I am ...'" said Misaka behind Accelerator, but she interrupted by Accelerator.  
"You don't need to ask! He isn't even part of 'the game'"  
Misaka Imouto looked at Accelerator before looked at Touma again.

"What did you say? WHAT DO YOU MEANT BY GAME!?" shouted Touma.  
"'[Experiment] is the correct word' says Misaka as she translated the meaning"  
_(E-Experiment?)_

Another Misaka Imouto started moving, passed him and cleaned 'the mess'. He looked at them and started wondering before the Misaka Imouto replied once more. "We are 'Sisters,' answers Misaka."

She continued "The Misaka that you have been touched in with is Serial Number 10032. In other words…this Misaka."  
"Sorry to interrupted this! But, you guys are the next ones?" interrupted Accelerator with a scary smile.

The Misaka 10032 behind him replied "'No. Only This Misaka is the one who will be the test subject. The next experiment will started at 8.30 pm, Japan Standard Time and the coordinate will be at X-228561 Y-568714' informed Misaka"

"I see~ Well … It is nice to meet you again, old friend! Better you get away from this mess or the next time we meet, I will…definitely…kill you." taunted Accelerator as he walked away from there.

"WAIT!" shouted Touma loudly.

"What is it, now?" asked Accelerator as he didn't care about anything.  
"I will stop this stupid thing! If I tell Anti-Skill and Board of Directors about it, they must be stopped you." provoked Touma  
But Accelerator just showed a smile, "Still as naive as the last time I see you. If you think Anti-Skill able to stop me, you are wrong."  
"But, you also wrong about one thing!" continued Accelerator

"?"

Accelerator started smiling widely "Like they, those trashes, will believe what a person like you, a Level 0, say! And if you don't know, Academy City's Board of Directors knew this and approved this ... You, who never see Academy City's darkness, better get away!"

_(NO WAY!)_

"And! You better tell your 'girlfriend' to stop interrupting this 'game'…if she think she is able to stop this."

_(Who he means...Don't tell me! Misaka!) _Thought Touma as he was thinking the possibility after see Misaka Imouto.

"It seemed you know her, huh~ Good! Tell her that her nightmare will never stop…it's just only get worse if she tried to end It." as Accelerator started laughing and went away from there.

Seeing Accelerator walked away from him, he felt disgust and shame on himself for letting a murderer go and couldn't do anything about this. One of Misaka finally talked "'I apologized for leaving the cat behind,' says Misaka"

The other Misaka talked "'It seems I have given you unnecessary worries from this [Experiment],' apologizes Misaka"  
_(Huh? Don't she say that she the one who have been touched in with me) _as Touma looked at Misaka 10032. Misaka 10032 immediately gave him the answer "'Misaka uses the ability to control electricity and links our brain waves together. The other Misaka simply share Misaka 10032, This Misaka's memories.' explains Misaka"

"Something like Network? ... And what is 'Sisters'?" asked Touma once more, as he realized the other Misaka already cleaned the corpse and the mess there. This is probably the final question that he could ask before they all left

"'Clones, we are mass produced for military use, that use Misaka Mikoto Onee-sama, one of the only 7 Academy City Level 5s, as original model. We all are part of [Experiment]' answers Misaka."

Hearing that, the words of clones and it's relation to Misaka Mikoto stunned Touma to the core. _(W-Wait, Clone? Misaka's clone!) _  
"'I apologized once more for involving you in this experiment,' says Misaka as she lowers her head. 'Please take care the cat'"  
After saying that, those 'Misaka' start gone away from there, Leaving Touma alone in dark alleyway.

_(... That's it? Only that?)_

"D-Dammit!" shouted Touma as he punched the wall near there with his right hand.  
"I-I need to find Misaka to explain all of this...this MADNESS!" Touma said as he clenched his fist and immediately took Misaka Imouto's kitten and took a bus to one place he knows where to meet her.  
_(The Tokiwadai Girls Dormitory !)_

* * *

**Inside the bus,**

Touma sit at the back on the bus that evening while holding a black cat. He went to a certain destination to meet a certain someone to know what has really happened. He closed his eyes for a rest and started seeing vision of his past.

_(I can't believe 'that person' is someone I know... Just what turn him into that kind of killer?)_

He remembered what Misaka Imouto said to him before  
_"-'Clones, we are mass produced for military use, that use Misaka Mikoto Onee-sama, one of the only 7 Academy City Level 5s, as original model. We all are part of [Experiment]' answers Misaka."_

Come to think about it, there was a rumor that spreading about this, but he didn't believe it at all. The words haunt Touma over and over, he decided to find out the truth from the actual person directly, Misaka Mikoto. He remembered back, her smile, her laugh and he started asking himself, were those to conceal the dark truth? Was she involved directly with the Academy City's darker side? That is the question he wanted to say to Mikoto and wanted to hear the answer from her own self.

_(No! I know Biri-Biri is not that kind of person! I know it!)_

[Next Stop, "Seventh School District - Tokiwadai Middle School Student Dormitory." Please check your belongings and step carefully. Thank You!]  
The announcement of the arrival to the intended destination caused Touma to snap out of his thought and get out of the bus. He looked at the dormitory in front of him

"Finally I come here. No more turning back!"

He entered the dormitory.

* * *

**Inside the Dormitories Guestroom,**

After entering the dorm, he without a pause searched for Mikoto's room and he found her room numbers.  
"208...okay." He dialed it on dorm's phone that connected to all rooms in the dorm.  
He had his doubt at first, but he finally dialed the number and a waiting tone is heard. During that waiting, he thought what should he said to her.  
_(I see her, then what? Am I going to ask her about 'it' directly?)_

While thinking, someone picked up the call, "Yes? Who is this?"  
_(Ah someone picked up) _"Hello? Misaka? This is Kamijou"  
The voice on the other side of the phone replied,"Ahh... Kamijou-san, you say?"  
"Oh is this a wrong number? Sorry!" Touma asked if he is mistaken.  
"... No, this is the right one. I'm Onee-sama's roommate" The voice replied back.

"Oh I see." (_I have a feeling that this voice is familiar, and that word 'Onee-sama' I swear I ever hear it before.)_ Touma thought as he remembered a certain person with this particular voice. Suddenly a long silence fills the phone and what happened next is

"Wait a second! It is funny, you know ... I have feeling that I ever hear you voice before, Kamijou-san?"

She started checking how Touma looked like with the camera and shouted "...HAAAA! IT'S REALLY YOU! THE ONE WHO TRYING TO MAKE A MOVE ON ONEE-SAMA YESTERDAY, DIDN'T YOU!" A sudden outburst could be heard from the phone.

"W-What?! ... NO! I WASN'T MAKING ANY MOVE TO BIRI-BIRI AT ALL!" It's the only answer Touma can reply after the voice that turned into a sudden outburst was actually Mikoto's Kouhai, Shirai Kuroko.  
"GRRRRR! What are you doing here huh?" Kuroko asked in an angry tone.  
"Well, it's nothing major, I just want to have a talk with her" Touma said again.

_(... Something weird going on here. He might know what's going on with Onee-Sama lately) _thought Kuroko before she replied  
"... Onee-sama hasn't back yet! If you have something important to talk about, come inside and wait."

The door next to Touma opened. After putting the phone down, he entered deep into the dorm and on his way to the upstairs, He saw 'something', a middle-aged woman with glasses talking to a couple of students and he immediately hid behind a pillar.

"If I see you violating the dormitory rules, you'll be punished, understand?" She said with a terrifying stare to the students that made student shake to their knees and immediately left after nodding at her.  
_(Wait a second! She is the scary Dorm Manager!) _as Touma remembered when he met her during Tokiwadai's open house and he might be met her in past before.

The Dorm Manager sensed something and looked directly at the row of pillars, which Touma hid behind one of them. Touma immediately felt the chill down to his spine after sensed those terrifying stare from Dorm Manager for a minute and He decided to go to other direction. After another minute, she finally left and Touma can go upstairs safely.

"Phew, I thought I'll be toasts." Touma said to himself and he went Mikoto's room.

* * *

**In front of Room 208,**

_(This place huh? Here goes nothing.) _He said to himself as he knocked the door.  
A voice heard behind the door, "Come in, it's not locked."  
Inside, there are two beds which one of them is occupied by a certain twin-pig tailed girl is laying down on one of the bed.  
"Oh, it's really you." Shirai Kuroko said as she saw Touma, who was holding a cat, entered.

Touma stuttered. He tried to say something to Kuroko as she gave him a dark sinister stare, "Umm...a-about yesterday..."  
"It's Shirai Kuroko, remember that. I share this room with Onee-sama" She said as she introduced herself.

Kuroko suddenly made another outburst, "HOW DARE YOU!"  
Touma surprised and asked "What did I do?"

"YOU! FOLLOWING ONEE-SAMA STILL HASN'T ENOUGH FOR YOU...AND YOU'RE INTRUDING TO HER ROOM!" She replied as she pointed her fingers to Touma.  
"I-INTRUDING! NO! NO! NO! THAT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK!" Touma shouted to her to ease the misunderstanding.  
At the same time he thought and concerned about Mikoto (_What's she doing all alone? I don't think she's the type that always goes out at night ... except when she chased me all the night with that duel thing... I think...)_

As soon as she calm down, she said to him, "If you want to wait for her, you don't have to keep standing there! There is an empty bed over there" She said as she pointed the bed next to her."  
Touma looked over the bed and said, "Is it okay? Sitting on her bed without her permission?"  
"What are you saying? That's my bed, you know." Kuroko replied while hugging the pillow.

"So, that's must be her's ... wait, why are you on that bed? Pervert?" He said to Kuroko with her staring at him.  
"Pervert is a harsh words don't you think?" Kuroko said with more sinister looks at him.  
Touma only made a weak laugh at her _(Okay, the image of Tokiwadai Ojou-Sama in my mind has already broken by now)_

Touma decided to have nice talk with her "You are her kouhai, right? How you become her roommate?"  
Kuroko gave him a sweet smile that somehow scary Touma a lot, especially after learned the reality from Kuroko's mouth "I had the previous tenant move out, and I moved in ... Legally, of course"

_(Scary)_

"Hmph~ Anyway, I assume you must be the gentlemen who quarreling with Onee-Sama frequently and you also who gave moral support to her." Kuroko continued to talk with Touma.

_(Wait, supporting Biri-Biri? She thought of me like that?)_ He surprised at Kuroko's other words, but he realized something that Kuroko said before.  
"If you talking about quarreling with Misaka, Actually she the one who started all of them"  
"Really? Onee-Sama who started it first?"

Touma nodded and felt an immense killing intend from Kuroko.

_(W-Why ? Why she is looking at me like that! It looked like she want to kill me.)_ thought Touma as he realized Kuroko kept glaring at him.  
_(Onee-Sama! Just what are you looking from this APE! Am I must destroy him first so Onee-Sama can become mine forever!) _"Ahem... By the way, I wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?" asked Touma.

"Do Onee-Sama quarreling with you this week?". Touma shook his head and Kuroko believed his answer. She started thinking something else. Even though she was cruel to Touma, He could feel Kuroko also worried about Mikoto. Mikoto might be hiding the truth from Kuroko. About [Experiment]. Before the two started talking, the black cat on Touma's lap started reacting to a certain footstep. The two of them heard a footsteps coming towards their room.

"I-Is she back?" Touma asked while trying to change the atmosphere as he heard the footsteps getting near.

Kuroko on the other hand heard the footsteps and her face turned pale, "This footsteps...OH NO!"  
"W-What happened?" Touma asked as he saw her face turned pale.  
She turned to Touma and said, "It's the Dorm Manager! What to do? If she learned there is a man inside this room ..."

Hearing that name sent chills down to his spine, "W-Wait ! That scary lady! Oh no! What we must do!"  
Kuroko didn't react as she already knew this man ever met face to face with the Tokiwadai's Dorm Manager. However with Touma in this room, everything went bad. A boy and a girl in same room could create lots of misunderstanding.

"Don't worry; we'll teleport out of here!" Kuroko ensured him. She immediately touched him but nothing happened.

"W-What's happened? Why it didn't work?" Kuroko shocked to see her power wasn't working after touching Touma.  
"Umm...You see... it's all because of my right hand. I'm quite sure about it though" Touma explained as he is showing his right hand.  
With the footsteps getting near, Kuroko ignored his explanation and immediately put Touma inside Mikoto's bed. "Hurry up, go inside this place!"  
"H-Hey!" Touma tried to object Kuroko's action but Kuroko reminded him, "Hide there for a while!" She kept kicking him and successfully hid him just in time.

_(Ouch! cramped here...)_ Touma gritted in pain as he lay cramped under Mikoto's bed. Teddy bear doll almost shocked him and caused his voice out.  
_(Oh, it's a teddy bear huh?)_ and he heard a conversation between Kuroko and the Dorm Manager.  
"Shirai Kuroko, I heard a noise coming to your room." the Dorm Manager said.  
"Oh, it's just a movie I watched from my laptop!" Kuroko explained while trying to hope that the Dorm Manager believed her excuse.

"... Is that so? Alright. Next time, lower the voice or you'll be getting a punishment. By the way, where's Misaka Mikoto? I haven't seen her awhile, is she out again?" the Dorm Manager asked as she noticed that Misaka Mikoto wasn't in her room.  
"Well, Onee-sama called me that she is having an extra class again." Kuroko explained.

The Dorm Manager was quite suspicious and said, "Extra class? I haven't been informed about that. Nevermind, tell her to tell me if she's late because if she violated the curfew, you and her marks will get deducted you hear me?"  
"Alright ma'am, I'll tell her." Kuroko replied while bowing down and the Dorm Manager left her, heading to inspect the other room.

Before she left, The Dorm Manager heard something. A cat's voice ... It actually the meow of the cat, which Touma brought with him "What is it?"  
"N-Nothing at all!" replied Kuroko as she tried to make the Dorm Manager left. After the Dorm Manager left the room, Kuroko finally relaxed for a moment. She couldn't let Touma appeared from his hideout until 'the devil' left that area.

Meanwhile, during the talk between Kuroko and the Dorm Manager, Touma stared at the teddy bear in front of him but he saw a zipper at the bear's neck. The cat jumped from his arm and played with the zipper.

_(A zipper?)_ He opened the zipper just to see several documents named [Level 6 Shift Experiment].  
_(Level 6! Experiment!) _Touma thought as he read through the content while hiding under Mikoto's bed.

"*sigh*...Finally she's gone" Kuroko said that to herself and headed to Mikoto's bed where Touma is hiding.  
"Alright You! Get out now!" She called Touma as he came out, but this time with his face showing some seriousness and his hand held some documents.  
"A document? What is it actually?" Kuroko was getting more curious as she started to inspect it.

"Ah! This is my homework! She hide it here huh~" lies Touma to Kuroko.  
"You came here for that? Why Onee-Sama take that paper anyway?" asked Kuroko  
"Y-Yeah! Anyway ... It seems several part is missing, I'm better go out from here and looked for Mikoto myself" explained Touma as he tried to leave.  
"Wait a second! I also want to look for her. Let's search her together!" warned Kuroko as she opened something that looked like tracker "Onee-Sama isn't far away from here anyway~"

Touma was curious about what Kuroko talking and asked "How you know?"  
"I put something at Onee-Sama cellphone so I can track her! Now! Let's ..."  
Touma immediately knocked Kuroko in the head, "I'm sorry! I will handle Biri-Biri problems myself."

Before she fainted, Kuroko started cursing him "Y-You Bastard Pervert!"  
After that, Touma ran out from the room and out from the dorm while bringing the documents and Kuroko's cellphone with him.  
_(Hold on Biri-Biri! I'm coming!) _as he raced to find Misaka Mikoto based on the tracker, which he got from Kuroko.

* * *

At a certain steel bridge near a river bank, Misaka Mikoto, 1 of the only 7 Level 5, started thinking her past.

She saw her past vision where she gave the scientists her DNA Map in hope to help many kids with their disease, Duchenne Dystropy.

It is severe recessive X-linked form of muscular dystrophy characterized by rapid progression of muscle degeneration, eventually leading to loss of ambulation and death.

_(Why... Why everything ended like this?)_

She started remembering her first time when she saw a 'Sister' and learned that her DNA is misused by the scientists that she believed.  
_(There must be a way I can do to stop it ...)_  
After that, she saw her 'Sister' dead right in front of her, followed by another 'Sisters' get killed by 1# Level 5.

She couldn't forget those visions in her head, how they died, and Accelerator's sinister smile.

She tried every possibility that she can use, but she failed in the end.  
Especially after learned the recent fact that she found ... about [Tree Diagram]  
She started sweating a lot and cried while she unconsciously says "Help ... Help Me!"

Out of nowhere, she heard a cat's voice.  
"! ... A cat?"  
As someone's footsteps can be heard, a serious voice came out from the place where the footsteps can be heard "Finally I found you! What are you doing?"

Mikoto recognized this voice very well (_Don't tell me?)_  
She looked at the voice owner, who is standing not far away from her.  
A black spiky hair boy, Kamijou Touma, appeared there (_What he is doing here?)_  
She can looked a worried expression in his face (_Why he is like that?)_  
She didn't realize about the paper that Touma holding.

Mikoto let out a sigh "What? What do I do in my spare time is my business right? I can do whatever I want, whenever I want. I'm Level 5 Railgun after all. Anyway, How you find me? Wanna duel again?"  
She suddenly heard a sudden reply from Touma "Drop the act!"  
She looked at him for a moment before looked at the river again "Act? What act? This Misaka Mikoto is only having a little walk in the night and you tried to say ..."

Suddenly Touma interrupted her and reading the documents that he found before.  
"From the estimated calculation using [Tree Diagram] ..."  
_(! [Tree Diagram]!) _after hearing that word, Mikoto looked at Touma and saw him reading the documents.

"It has been concluded that only one person who able to attain Level 6. By preparing 128 different battlefields, by fighting according to the scenario, and by killing Railgun 128 times. Accelerator will be able to evolve into Level 6 since his growth stimulated by the battlefield ... As it is impossible to prepare 128 Railguns, we set our eyes upon the Level 5 Mass Production Project,'Sisters'. Via this re-calculation, by preparing 20000 different battlefields, by fighting according to the scenario, and by killing 20000 sisters, the same results can be archived."

After looked at frozen Mikoto, Touma started talking "I knew all of it. Let's save us both sometime."

Mikoto leaned near the bar while looking at Touma.  
"*Sigh* Why are you doing this?"_ (I see … so he found out …)  
_"The fact that you have those papers means you went into my room without my permission." (_To have someone as meddlesome as you this plan is unforgivable right?)  
(From your view, I must look like an accomplice by giving them my DNA Map. So you came here to blame me.)_  
"To extent of searching my teddy bear" _(No matter how you look at the result, it's the same.)  
_While crossing her right index and middle finger, filled by such thoughts, Mikoto continued "That's get the death penalty, so die!" (_Being condemned by someone will make it easier.)  
_"So ..." (_Can I get you to fill the role then?)  
_"Did you worry about me? Or Think that I'm unforgivable?"

Mikoto looked at Touma, she prepared the next words that Touma will say. She probably knew what he is going to say. It probably will give her a scar that wound her heart for her entire life and made her wanted to die. The wind started blowing between them. This is probably the last time for both of them. Touma started moving his lips, but he actually thinking something very complicated.

_(What if she's known about it all along?)  
(What should I say?)  
(It's confidential information, so as expected Misaka is …)  
_While looking at Mikoto's forced smile, Touma clenched his right hand to the point where it couldn't get any tighter.  
_(How pathetic! Why I am trying to judge her? This girl is fight darkness alone and I only do something like this?)_

Touma finally found his actual answer. The answer that he wanted to say so much from the start. Mikoto looked at Touma and the answer that she expected never happened.

"Of course I'm worried … about you dammit!"

Unable to comprehend what happened, tried to deny the word, Mikoto tried her best to reply. It seems like something just being destroy … her illusion just being destroyed by Touma's last word. She tried so hard to deny it while saying "Ah … Umh … There are people who actually lie like that … Well, I guess it's always better to have someone say that even if it's a lie. What a worthless person I am"

Touma let out a single sentence "I'm not lying…"  
Mikoto couldn't believe what she had heard "Eh? What?"  
"I'M NOT LYING! YOU HEAR ME!"

Mikoto looked at him, silent and started covering her crying face.  
Touma continued "I'll apologize for entering your room without your permission. I'll take no matter how many lighting attacks you'll shower me with later. And, what are you doing?"  
He took out a paper from the documents, a map with a lot of cross marks.

"You attacked these places, right? … That's your doing right? To stop [Experiment]" asked Touma.  
"Yeah! I tried everything I could to stop it, but I learned all of them are useless. I tried to stall the project by attacking the Research Centers! But, it's all failed. Another research facility takes over right away. To them, Level 6, which never been seen before, must be interesting project"  
"Finally I found one more way to stop it forever" declared Mikoto as she tried to left the place.

Touma immediately blocked her way "You're going to fight against Accelerator do you?"  
"Yeah! I already know those documents were useless, even if we giving them to the higher-ups. By stopping Accelerator, all of this [Experiment] will be over right. This was a problem that I started, so I should be the one who saves those girls. Now, please move away from there."

"You're lying. If you can defeat Accelerator, you would've done that first. You weren't a match for Accelerator to begin with. Why didn't you ask for my help? You know you won't able to handle this problem alone, why you couldn't just ask someone for help?" replied Touma with serious face.  
"... There is only one explanation for this. The most worst possibility! Let yourself killed in first move, right? [Tree Diagram] already predict that you would die by the 185th move of your battle. But … That kind of move is suicide. Even if you do that, the scientists just need to re-stimulate and restart the project once more."

Mikoto smiled at him "You don't have to worry about it. Do you know? [Tree Diagram] was shot down 2 weeks ago by unknown force and the top management tried to cover it. It's funny you know, two weeks ago … it means …"  
_(The day I lost most of my memories and the one caused it is...)_ "Index's Dragon Breath destroy it!?" as Touma realized the fact.  
"I don't know whether this is fate or what. But, It gave me final chance to stop the [Experiment] … with my own life. Now, GET LOST!"  
"I'm not moving from here! I can't let you, someone who intending to die in most foolish way, go there." replied Touma immediately as he blocked Mikoto's way.

Suddenly a lighting spear struck the documents that Touma hold and leaving a hole. Touma looked at the destroyed documents and Mikoto replied angrily "Then what? Are you saying you have better idea? … Leaving those girls? Out of the question."  
Her body started emitting electricity "This is my final warning! Move aside! If you don't want to let me through, then I will through by force."  
The black cat finally started hiding as it realized that place is dangerous.

Mikoto looked at Touma as the electricity that went out from her body starting more dangerous "I see … You want to do it in hard way… It's true; I never won against you … even once. And I still not get what kind of power that you possess."  
Mikoto's speech started getting more serious "This time! Only this time, I am not allowed to lose against you. You better get serious now…or you _will_ die!"

_(I see … So there is no other way to stop her! Wait! There is!)_ as Touma released the already destroyed document from his right hand. What he did after this would be a gamble.

Mikoto saw Touma lifted up his right hand _(If he gone serious, I probably will lose … no! I mustn't lose… for this time … W-What?)  
_Mikoto shocked as Touma kept blocking her way and he didn't use his right hand. "I won't fight you"  
"W-What that supposed to be?" Mikoto asked him.

"I won't fight you" is the words Touma spoke which made Mikoto shocked to the core, she didn't expect that words, more over from Touma.  
"I-I give you warning! Fight me!" Mikoto shouted at Touma.  
Touma still stands on his decision which he knew would cost him his life. But, he has to do it...to protect her, "I said, I won't fight! You hear me!"

Mikoto shouted angrily at him "Are you retarded? I said FIGHT! Don't think I won't attack you only because you are defenseless."  
"I already said I won't fight" replied Touma immediately with serious face.  
"I said clench you fist and get serious! If don't, YOU GONNA DIE!"  
_(Hehe .. I'm think I will die in her hand) _Touma thought at himself.

Several lighting attacks flied to Touma, but none of them hit him.  
"Don't screw with me! Fight and clench that fist of your. If you don't, get away! Don't trample on people's wishes with that half-baked feeling!"  
Touma still not react, And Mikoto finally shouted as her lighting lance flied to his way "I'm telling you to … FIGHT!"  
The lighting lance finally pierced through Touma.

Mikoto looked at her trembling hand that shot the lighting lance "How come?" _(There is no way my attack can hit this guy, yet … I not sensing my attack erased … the attack … the feedback is … going through his body …)_

Touma started standing up … Mikoto tried to help him and stopped his useless act. She stopped what she is going to do. In order to be a bad guy, in order to protect a very important person in your life … Especially in front of the person you want to protect the most … someone must throw away their feelings … that what she learned from Stiyl and Kanzaki.

They became 'bad guys' to protect Index, in this condition Mikoto could feel how hard to do it and she couldn't image how much the pain that they must burden for years. To see him like this … in this condition, It already hurt her heart a lot. She gritted her teeth as Touma tried to stand up once more. _(W-Why?)_

"Y-You already understand now, right? I'm serious here!" shouted Mikoto as she desperately tried to be a bad guy in front of Touma.  
But Touma still said the same thing "I won't fight you!"  
"Wh...Why? You already see how messed up this Experiment was! I'm trying to stop them! Why? Why … don't you fight me? Why are you stopping me!" shouted Mikoto angrily as she tried to stop Touma.

Touma looked at Mikoto with serious face and he started giving his answer, in most simple way "Yeah! They are wrong … For someone to get hurt like that"  
"That's Why!" shouted Mikoto but Touma interrupted her.  
"But! With your way of doing things … you won't be saved." as Touma looked at surprised and desperate expression of Mikoto.

"That's why … That's why! I won't step aside …" as Touma stands up.  
"To tell you the truth … I don't know … why I don't want to fight you. I don't know … whether there are good solutions for this stupid problem. But I don't like it … I don't want to see you hurt, I don't want to see you cry. Why … you have to die? Why someone has to get killed?" asked Touma as he looked at Mikoto

"I … I'm not good person like you think! I don't deserve those kind words from you! Even if there is a world where everyone can smile, I don't deserve that place there. Why? Why you are standing up for a villain like me!" shouts Mikoto as multiple lighting lance continuously to hit Touma.

Touma who gets hits by them, still not down "You know … even if you die, are those sisters would be grateful if you do that? … You know … that your way won't save anyone … but … You are not evil as you think! You are not a villain. You still can stop this and asking for other people's help... Those attacks just now … are the proves"

"W-What are you saying!" shouted Mikoto, she already hurt him a lot, yet … he still say she is kind? "You were supposed to be dead by now!"  
Touma replied with a simple question "Tell me! Why am I alive?! … There is no normal human that could survive from those attacks … You … subconsciously restrained yourself."  
"Re … Restrained?" asked Mikoto as she didn't believe what Touma said.

She suddenly emitted a very high voltage from her body. Touma didn't feel a single fear about what happening in front of him. In fact, he is looking at crying Misaka Mikoto. "Please! Please! Move away from there! Even … Even those girls … If I die … They should at least get some measure of peace. There is no other way for me, this is the chance! If you can save 10000 people life with one life, that would be wonderful right?"

"It's fine like that … so move … I don't want you to die. If you eat this head on, you won't live for sure." ensured Mikoto.

A single word could be hear … the final word from that boy "I won't"  
"A … Ah … Ahhhhhh" as Mikoto released her most powerful attack Touma still not moved from there and closed his eyes.  
_(I will surely found that way … a way where … everyone can … smile)_

The attack finally come to Touma and struck him directly … that day, one could see a very shiny light from that bridge. Academy City got another sudden blackout. Alone in middle battlefield, Misaka Mikoto finally 'kill' Touma. She finally heard a cat voice, and she looked at it. She tried picked it up, but the cat looked at another direction and seemed to call the 'lifeless body' near there. Mikoto looked at that direction, he is 'dead' or that what she thought.

"Huh?" She can see a movement, the 'lifeless body' moved  
"U...Ugh" as the boy tried to get up.  
She took several steps back and pointed her hand to the boy, one could hear desperate tone in her voice "Stop … Stop … already … Stop already!"  
Several tears could be seen at her face. "PLEASE STOP!"

Meanwhile, the near unconscious Touma tried to stand up.  
_(She said she had no choice but to die. Neither does she want to die, nor should she. She had no choice but to die.)_  
_(Isn't there any other choice? Think. Think a new option. If there isn't one … then I will have to create one with my own hand!)_  
_(To stop that foolish experiment, I must let them realize that nothing good will come out of the experiment.)_  
Touma looked at Mikoto, who is crying right now Mi - … Mi … sa … ka?

_(Huh?)_ As Touma consciousness finally gone.

* * *

Touma started to remember a fragment of his memories that supposed to be lost already.  
In past, there is a single question that Touma ever asked to his friends.  
_[How to solve a complicated problem?]  
_Surprisingly, all of his friends gave him different answers.

"_Just punch the problem!" _That the answer from a certain black and somewhat spiky windswept hair boy.

"_Just do what you can do and don't give up! Believe you can do it!" _That the answer from a certain busty girl.

"_If you can escape, escape. If you can't, use tactics and tricks to solve it, nya~" _That the answer from a certain blonde hair boy.

"_Well, sometimes the best answer is come from randomness you do!" _That the answer from a certain blue hair boy.

"_Don't think too much at the problem, the answer probably will be much simpler than you think"_ That's the answer from a certain silver long hair boy.

_(Ugh~ I guess they are all right about those things. I glad I ever ask that question once to them)_ as Touma's consciousness already came back.  
And the first thing he saw is … angry Mikoto's face. Another thing that he realized is that he sleeping at Mikoto's lap.  
"Misa … "as Touma tried to call her

The black cat started meowing at him, and Mikoto finally talked  
"You … Are you stupid? Yeah! You are really a true idiot!" scolded Mikoto at him  
"Huh?" as Touma never expected that the first word that come out from her mouth.  
"Your probability of dying was 90 … no! 95% It just happened my aim was off, That's why you're lucky to be alive."

_(Ugh~ Where the crying Misaka gone?)_ As Touma started remembering the scene before his conscious gone.  
_(Was I … imaging things? A dream, eh?) _Though Touma laughed sheepishly as Mikoto continuously scolding him.  
"I guess so … you are really stupid! Stupid You…"

Mikoto still continued but Touma can felt her tone changed "This didn't concern you at all … If you had just closed you eyes and moved on, you could go back to your ordinary everyday life."

"It would have been better … if you used your power; you would have easily defeated me like last time … why? Why … would you let yourself get beat up like this …? Your heart seriously could have stopped beating." as Mikoto looked at laughing Touma.  
Touma could feel something wet hit his face, Mikoto's tears  
"Why … are you still able to laugh like that?" asked crying Mikoto and Touma pat her head.

"Because I thought of how glad I am able to be your ally … and your friend so please, don't cry!"  
Touma started to stand up and Mikoto tried to stop him "Don't move, you're still …"  
"I've got it … The way to stop the [Experiment]. There for I have a request for you"  
"Huh? What I can do?" asked Mikoto as she started wiping her tears.  
Touma told his request "Tell me where Accelerator is"

Mikoto shocked after hearing Touma's request that she thought as suicidal.  
"W-What? Accelerator! You want to...fight him!" Mikoto tried to confirm what she heard from him.  
Touma laughed a bit and told her, as he leaning at bar near there "You may not know this... but, Accelerator is actually … _(maybe)_ a close friend of mine."  
His revelation has shocked Mikoto to the core, (_T-That killer is one of his...friends!)_  
"That's why! I have a reason to stop him. I'm going in to fight him and furthermore, I'm a Level 0. Image Strongest Level 5 like Accelerator defeated by Academy City Weakest, Level 0 like me. The scientists will have to abort this cursed [Experiment] So Misaka, tell me where is he." Touma asked her with a determined face.

"Im … Impossible! You don't know anything about his power, how powerful is he." as Mikoto tried to stop Touma. _(No one is here to solve everything)_  
"I know how scary he is. But, he is still a human in the end and there is no human in this world that invincible" as Touma ensured her.  
"I'm begging of you! Stop! I can't add more people to the 10000 people that have died because of me!" _(No matter how much I pray to God when I'm in trouble, he won't help me with his miracle)_

Suddenly, he grabbed Mikoto's shoulder and put his hand on her face. He made her to stare at his eyes and smiling while saying, "You see … My dream … is to make no one has to lost anything, and we can all go back smiling … Please, help me fulfill that dream"  
_(Even if I cry and shout, There's no hero that … able to help me )_  
"I promise! I'll make everyone happy! I'll be back with Misaka Imouto! And I will bring your smile back! So … please, help me to fulfill my dream!"  
When she heard his determined voice and looked at his stare, she knows that he is sincere and determined to end this all. Mikoto started crying and replied "Yes..."

* * *

"Hah~ Hah~" as Touma started running with all his might to a certain place after being informed by Mikoto.  
_"-The industrial area at western outskirts. The train switch yard there is the location of 10032nd experiment."  
(Experiment no.10032, it means … that girl is the next one) _thinks Touma as he started remembering what Misaka 10032 says to Accelerator.  
_"-'No. Only This Misaka is the one who will be the test subject. The next experiment will started at 8.30 pm, Japan Standard Time and the coordinate will be at X-228561 Y-568714' informed Misaka"_

_(I must stop it, Uah!) _"Ouch!" As Touma fell down to the hard floor and remembered another thing.  
What Accelerator, his former friend, said to him before.  
_"-I see~ Well … It is nice to meet you again, brat! Better you get away from this mess or the next time we meet, I will kill you!"_  
"Shit! I don't have time to trip like this!" Touma stood up and felt his legs shaking.

"What happened? Is this because the damage earlier or … "as Touma remembered how Misaka 10031 died in hand of Accelerator "Am I afraid to him, who done 'that' to human being?"  
Touma gritted his teeth and remembered what he said to Mikoto before, _"-You see … My dream … is to make no one has to lost anything, and we can all go back smiling … Please, help me fulfill that dream"_  
"After saying that all! I'm pathetic!" as he punched himself with his right hand, tried to put some realization to what he said before.

"Misaka Imouto said that the [Experiment] began at 8.30. I have to hurry" as Touma continued to run.  
He didn't realize the clock near him already hit 8.30.  
But, Kamijou Touma kept running, he kept running with all his might.  
To save a human being and to put smile on everyone face.

* * *

Back to the bridge, where Misaka Mikoto is taking care of the cat, he also gave Kuroko's cellphone to her. It also made Mikoto confused on how Touma have it in first place. It is another crazy Touma's request to her. Somehow, the cat looks disturbed for some reason.

"What's the matter" asks Mikoto as she is holding the cat.

Finally Misaka Mikoto realized what actually happened to the cat "Oh right! The voltage coming from my body."  
She suddenly let out a sentence "He's such an idiot."  
She remembered what Touma said to her to ensure everything will be all right

_"You want to save them, so leave this all to me. The crucial point is that I, a Level 0, beat Accelerator, the strongest Level 5, by myself, right? For a Level 5 to be fighting with me would just ruin everything. You don't have to worry, I know how to handle Accelerator. He may looked strong, but it all because his power. If it's me, I able to do it! So … I will … I will bring Misaka Imouto back!"_

"I know, okay?" said Mikoto to herself.  
"I won't be able to do anything even if I go there. But, you think I can … just stand here?"  
Time to face her feeling, and she decided one thing.  
_(Time to chase that idiot!) _As she started running to the [Experiment] area

* * *

At same time, the place where [Experiment] will be begin.

"'Experiment no.10032 shall now commence,' informed Misaka"  
"'Subject 'Accelerator', please move to your designated position,' orders Misaka"  
"Hehehe...give me the pleasure for killing you...okay?" Accelerator says as he prepared to fight Misaka 10032  
Finally Misaka 10032 wore her military goggle and the battle started.

**Meanwhile,**

Kamijou Touma finally arrived at the place where the [Experiment] concluded.  
He took several breathes after he ran with all his might.  
"I finally reached this place. Next one!"

Touma started climbing the wire fence. He noticed something not far from there. "Huh? Don't tell me!" .

* * *

Misaka 10032 jumped in sky while delivering several lighting attacks to Accelerator. None of her attack was reflected back to her, it's all because this [Experiment] scenario is where 'Reflect' is unusable. In another word, Accelerator mustn't reflect the attack back to the attacker. But he still may defect it to another way, or using his 'Redirection' to protect his body.

Misaka 10032 finally landed while kept delivering her lighting attacks to Accelerator. Accelerator kept chasing her irregular movement while saying "Ha, what are ya doing with those aimless steps?"  
Accelerator kept his speaking as he is getting closer to Misaka 10032. Each time he is getting closer to her, Misaka 10032 kept avoiding any contact with him  
"No matter how much time you buy for yourself, …" as Accelerator jumped at her

"Miracle won't happen!" as Accelerator landed. Misaka 10032 kept avoiding him as she delivered her attacks.  
"You are so boring! That's useless" as Accelerator kept following her. Accelerator sent out a roar as he already bored "Do you think I have the time to put up with your foolish games? Don't fuck with me!"

Accelerator realized his breath is heavy, it almost looked like he unable to breathe.

_(My breath …?)_ as he is looking at his surroundings . Misaka 10032 suddenly talked while looking at him with her expressionless face, "'This night …'"  
"'… has no wind, then there a chance for Misaka to win this time' says Misaka"  
Accelerator seemed angry and he realized something. "This smell …"

"Oh, I see…"

The answer why Accelerator running out of breath is …  
"Ozone" answered Accelerator immediately as he already got Misaka 10032's tactic. From the first time, what Misaka 10032 aimed actually to get her chance is by released electricity to Accelerator's surrounding, she affected the Oxygen around Accelerator. The electron will affect Oxygen's molecules. In the end, Oxygen will be split and combine again creating Ozone.

"Trying to make me run out of air, huh?" as Accelerator closed his eyes and opened his eyes once more. His expression changed become more sadistic than before. "Wonderful! Absolutely Wonderful!"  
Misaka 10032 continued her run while Accelerator looked at her.  
"Serving as my enemy rather well, eh? This doesn't bore me! I've killed you ten thousand times, but finally there is one of you using tricks that actually work! You do get smarter, eh? Moreover, this kind of field giving you more advantage, eh?" as Accelerator looked at his prey, which kept running away from him.

"However, there is a weak point in this trick." as Accelerator walked slowly to running Misaka 10032. There is no way, Accelerator to chase Misaka 10032 with that kind of speed. But Accelerator seems happy while saying "If I catch you, then this plan will fail, right?"

Suddenly, Misaka 10032 could hear a loud explosion from Accelerator's feet. Accelerator suddenly charged to her way like a train and managed to make her surprised as he already beside her now.

Misaka 10032 can see Accelerator's face clearly now "Don't act surprised." as Accelerator mocked her.  
"I just changed the vectors behind my feet." As Accelerator smiled and his right arm already at Misaka 10032's neck.  
"Hey! If you don't evade this, you'll really die, you know?"

Accelerator's arm hit a little of Misaka 10032's hand and she span multiple times and hit the hard ground several times. Her body rolled a few feet away from Accelerator before stopping. She is obviously in pain and is unable to get up. There are even several wounds at her body.

However, Accelerator's figure looms over her body. It is already her end, she just stared at him with scared expression. He called her "Hey… Do you know a method of beating your opponent without hurting your own knuckle?"

He kicked her stomach while saying "The second you touch the other person's body, change the vector of the opposing momentum towards that person."

Accelerator continuously kicking her body and several bloods came out from her mouth. "Well, you will get twice the amount of pain, but this is fun!"  
He stopped his kicking after 10032 seemed unable to react anymore "Now, for the next 'art'! What I should do to you?"  
He looked at the railway steel, "How about crucified?"

When he wanted to start it, he stopped and saw Misaka 10032 tried to use the chance to escape.  
"*Sigh* Just stop that useless act! Doll!" as he stepped her head.

They heard a footstep. He asked Misaka 10032, "Hey! What happens to the [Experiment] in this situation?"  
She looked at someone's shadow behind Accelerator.  
_(What is he doing here!) _Misaka 10032 thought when she recognizes the person.

"Well, well! Isn't it my idiot friend who wanted to die?" Accelerator looked at Touma,who's appeared behind him, with a grin._  
(Accelerator...) _the first words came to his mind when he saw his past friend's face.  
Suddenly he shouted at him "Get away from her, Accelerator!"

"W-Why are you here?" 10032 asks Touma, who's coming closer to them.  
"Why do you want to save me? I'm just a doll...that can be made a thousand times by a push of a button...with a borrowed heart in this body...each costs 180 Thousand Yen" Misaka 10032 tried to force Touma to abandon his effort of saving her.

"For the sake of the other remaining 9968 Misaka's in the inventory, stopping the [Experiment] is-"  
"Shut up, Imouto!" Touma shouted at her.  
"But-"

"I'm here to save you!" Touma began to preach her. "Saying you're an artificial body...and that you can be reproduce over and over...I COULDN'T CARE LESS ABOUT THAT!" Touma shouted her with all his heart content and looked at her straight in her eyes.

Touma said what he was thinking "YOU IS YOU! YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE OF YOU IN THE WORLD! SO ARE THE OTHER'S!"  
"That's why...that's why you cannot throw your life away; I still have many things to teach to you... THIS WORLD COULD TEACH MANY THINGS TO YOU!" He smiled and faced Accelerator.  
MISAKA 10032 fainted thanks to wounds that she received from the fighting against Accelerator. But, she heard Touma's clear intention to save her.

* * *

"Aww...what a touching speech you got there...Old Friend! You really liked that doll, I guess." as Accelerator clapped his hand to Touma. Touma began to clench his fist and charged without any words towards Accelerator. Accelerator just stomped his foot and causing dirt and dust to be displace into the air, those things hit Touma and he flown back with powerful force.

"Why do you still want to save that useless doll, hmm? I already told you before I will kill you if you dare to intervene what I'm doing." Accelerator declared while walking towards Touma who's now standing up again.

Touma started to said something "I..."  
"Hmm...?"  
"I DON'T NEED A REASON TO SAVE HER!" He shouted while charging.

"Heh…what a foolish answer! Just like when we first MET!" as Accelerator kicked the ground and made steel bar stands near him.  
He touched the steel bar and it flies to Touma.  
"Ugh!" as Touma hit by the steel bar.

"You always like that, helping people without reason. It is over now! Don't hate me! Blame that naivety of yours."  
Touma suddenly asked a question "What the hell happened to you, Accelerator? Why? Why you do involve in this madness!?"

Accelerator stopped his attacks to Touma and heard what Touma want to ask "Go ahead! This probably will be your last time to speak!"  
"You are already the strongest Level 5 in Academy City. You already in position where ever one wanted, why? Why you still desire 'power' and done these things! Just what do you think a 'true power' is!"  
"Strongest, eh? My power is only at level of 'fun' ... of 'let's trying to picking a fight with him'..."

Suddenly Accelerator's tone changed "I don't like it, got it! That kind of 'strongest' is useless! I strive something beyond that! That challenging me would be a sin! That's why I strive for that 'Absolute', Level 6!"

"Seems I can't changed your mind, eh?" asked Touma once more.  
"Not a single bit, idiot!" replied Accelerator with a scary smile.  
"I wanted to see if you had been forced into co-operating on this stupid [Experiment]! I'm gonna beat you so you can't do this EVER AGAIN!" shouted Touma, who showed his determined face  
"Consider that your last word! Now, Let me indulge in the pleasure of killing you!" as Accelerator prepared his stance once more.

This time several steel bar flies to his way, Touma used his reflex to avoid all of it. Several hit him, but Touma managed to avoid fatal wound. Accelerator dashed to his way, and Touma tried to punch him "EAT THIS!"  
But, a metal bar hit Touma's face and Accelerator almost touched him.

"Ahahaha! Who do you think you're up against! Old Friend?" shouted Accelerator as he is getting closer to his body.  
_(Dammit! One wrong move, I will die!) _As Touma turned the momentum when the steel bar hit him and used it to spin his body.  
Just now, Touma's right hand managed to block Accelerator's hand.  
"Huh?" as Accelerator couldn't understand what just happened.

His touch should kill him, but nothing happened.  
_(Good! An opening!) _as Touma's fist getting closer to Accelerator.  
But, Accelerator realized it and stomped the ground once more.  
This time Touma flies pretty far and hit a container filled with wheat floor.

_(Dammit! I'll have to find an opening to deliver my attack to him! Unlike Misaka's electrical attack, my 'Imagine Breaker' unable to negate physical attacks.)  
_While wiping his blood at his mouth, he started thinking a tactic_ (An opening! I must look for it! I must hit him only with my right hand. If he managed to touch any part of my body beside my right hand, it will GAME OVER for me!)_  
Suddenly Accelerator interrupted his thought "I don't know how you do that, But this is over now!"

Accelerator hit several containers and revealed its content  
"Flour?" as Touma realized what the contents are.  
"If you want to die that badly, I will make you become the most pleasant work of 'art'. There is no wind today, right?""  
Touma started thinking what Accelerator meant (_Floor? No Wind? ... Wait a second! He doesn't mean ... Dust Explosion?)  
_  
"Ah! Finally you realized it! True! Dust Explosion!" as Accelerator kicked one of the container to another container.  
_(Shit! The ignition is going to happen!)_  
Realizing what's going to happen, Touma ran from it while Accelerator started laughing.  
A part of the cargo holding area was engulfed in flames, as an ignition is set-off and making the flour explode.

Misaka Mikoto was heading to the place where Misaka 10032 and possibly where Touma is fighting against Accelerator when she heard the explosion and towers of flame appeared at that particular place.  
"Oh no! I hope I don't arrive too late!" Mikoto started hoping as she headed to the area.  
_(Please! Please don't die!) _As Mikoto pray for Touma's safety

* * *

"Ugh! Ah!"

Touma was desperately trying to stand up, his back was burned because of the explosion that he received before.  
Suddenly someone's footstep is getting closer to him and Touma can spot a person who walked pass through the flame.  
He looked so calm despite the situation "Ah~ I thought I'd actually die. With all Oxygen blown away, it is too hard even for me!"  
Accelerator looked at Touma while praising himself "This mean the idea that I could take a nuke is out, right?" while caressing his hair.

He saw Touma, staggering to stand up and Accelerator began to laugh.  
"Hey, old buddy! I'm surprised that you still survive my attack for a very long time…that is some achievement you got there. But, asking for more is bad right?" He said it with a deathly smile at Touma.  
He could see Touma's shaky body, which even unable to stand up properly, Accelerator started clapping his hand  
"Thanks to your own lack of potential, my reflection won't work properly. If you are Judgment or Anti-Skill with high-tech weapon, It all will be over in one blow"

"Rejoice, for you could be the first, who able to stand longest in front of Accelerator, in the world, ya' know?"  
His voice suddenly become cold and Touma could feel fear inside his heart

"That's why, you should just die already. Don't worry! I will make you become my most greatest 'art' that I ever make and I called it...'OLD FRIEND'!" as Accelerator suddenly dashed to Touma with two of his hand pointed to him.  
But the Touma muttered to him, "You know...?"

"Huh?"  
"YOU'RE DEAD WRONG...BUDDY!" Touma shouted as he charged at Accelerator, who completely taken by surprise, and his right fist smash headed on to his face and flown Accelerator away like a rag doll.

**Not far from them (a second before),**  
Misaka Mikoto witnessing the two fight behind wire fence and saw that Touma is nearly being defeated by Accelerator.  
"No! Not him!" She says while looking at Accelerator walking towards the staggering Touma.  
But something happened, she thought at first it was an illusion...she is witnessing Touma **punched **Accelertor and send him flying.  
"I-It's impossible...that Idiot...how did he..." She was speechless after witnessing it.

* * *

"Wha-? I'm bleeding? What the hell is this!" as Accelerator looked at his own blood at his hands.

Accelerator looked at Touma with anger and dashed to him once more "Hahaha! Interesting! That was a nice hit for you!"  
But he hit Accelerator with his right fist once more.  
Touma realized something (_Yeah! He is weak! Because of his power, he is weak!)_

"Shit! Why I can't hit you? Stop moving around so much!" shouted Accelerator as Touma kept dodging Accelerator's attack and delivered several blows back with his right hand.  
Touma started muttering something to Accelerator "The strongest Level 5, who never lost a fight… 'That's why you're weak'."  
"WHAT?" as Accelerator started standing up.  
"You defeat all your enemies in one hit and you can deflect any attack. That kind of guy will never learn how to fight!"

"SHUT UP!" as Accelerator stood up and stomped the ground, making the dirt flies to the sky  
Touma should be get hit by those, but he used the chance.  
Using it as diversion, he hid and appeared from below.  
Managed to make Accelerator surprised and delivered an uppercut.

"One more thing to add, thanks to that ability of yours. Your body becomes weak, if there is something that able to bypass your protection… You will get more fatal hit." explained Touma.  
_(What? Is he saying that he able to bypass my 'Redirection'?)_  
Since Accelerator still not gets up well, Touma gave several quick punches to Accelerator's face, with Accelerator being unable to defend.

At same time Mikoto looked at them, especially Touma  
_(His Opponent's The Strongest in Academy City!)  
(Even though, he completely unrelated…)  
(Even though, no one would blame him if he ran…)  
(He's really… that promise…)_

Touma finally gave a powerful punch to Accelerator, flinging him a few feet away from him.  
Touma tried to connect another punch; however, Accelerator uses his vector powers to leap in a considerable height and retreat.  
Accelerator is obviously shaken by Touma's punches and tries to regain his balance, and is unable to comprehend what just happened. "Shit!"  
Touma walked into Accelerator, who started pondering of his situation, and called him "ACCELERATOR!"

Enraged by Touma's insults before, Accelerator used his vector powers to control the metal on the railways. They began to distort and bend, carrying Touma into the air who was standing on the metal. Despite this, Touma used the metal's momentum, which propelling him into to the air, to deliver a punch to Accelerator.  
Before they clashed Touma say to him, "You got involved in something pointless! Your pride makes you don't hear what your heart say anymore. That's why! I gonna destroy that illusion of yours and make you 'awake' now!"

Touma's punch finally sent Accelerator to a stop sign.  
Touma came closer towards him and tells Accelerator "They (The 'Sisters') also lived their lives as best as they could!"  
_(Lived? Who he sayin' lived?)_ As Accelerator remembered the first time he joined the [Experiment]

What he thinking that time is (_What happen if I don't become The Strongest?)  
(If I become something beyond 'Unbeatable' then- How could how could that be different from how the things now?)  
_He finally joined the project and asks to do something that never crossed his mind before… kills the clones

Finally back to the reality, Touma kept talking to him "How could you do something like 'that' to them?"  
_(I need power to shut 'im up … no, power to dominate all rules and reason)_  
All that he can hear from Accelerator is his laugh, "Hehehehe...Lives the 'best' as they could what is that nonsense? Don't you dare to say that CRAP IN FRONT OF ME!"  
Touma prepared his stance again until Accelerator stood up and suddenly muttered something.

Touma suddenly realized something.  
_(Wind? … No! Something wrong with this wind.)  
_The wind started to get stronger as Accelerator raised his arms and began spouting strange clicking and screeching noises from his mouth. "Ku...KaKaKakikuku KaKeKakikuku KoKaKakikuko"  
Suddenly gusts of wind fill the area they are on, though most notably streams of blue energy begins to form above Accelerator. Swirling and whirling above him, within his control.

Accelerator said "kill him", and the blue energy compresses into a small sphere; Suddenly, the energy ball released several streams of energy towards Touma, who is overwhelmed by its power.  
They finally hit Touma and blown him away together with several containers.  
He hit several windmills and finally fell down not far away from Mikoto's place.

"What just…?" as Mikoto saw Touma finally down not far away from her.  
Blood came out from his wounds and he seemed already die  
"Eh? Ah? Why? ...No! NOOOOOOO!" screamed Mikoto as she looked at 'lifeless' Touma  
Not far away from there, Accelerator started laughing at him.

"Wind, Air, The flow of atmosphere" as Accelerator looked at the sky and he lifted up his right hand  
"This is here! Kaka! The power to kill the piece of shit that get in my way is RIGHT HERE!" as Accelerator gripped his hand tightly.  
"'Academy City's strongest','Level 6', I don't need any of those! The world is within the grasp of this hand! No one can stop me!" as Accelerator started laughing loudly and manically.

"Alright I just though o' something great! A very great one!"

Accelerator laughed at Touma, who was laying on the railroad tracks and began to form another ball of energy.  
He said to Touma, "Hey Old Friend! Where is your bravado now huh? Come on! I want to pay you for what you did Old Buddy! I gonna make you and your death as the best 'art' that I ever create! I WON'T LEAVE A SINGLE TRACE OF YOUR EXISTENCE AT ALL!"  
And before he can do that, someone shouted behind him, "Accelerator!"  
Touma recognized the voice and saw 'desperate' Misaka Mikoto prepared her Railgun and aimed it at Accelerator.

"I won't let you!" She shouted at Accelerator again.  
_(NO! DON'T DO IT!)_ Touma struggled to warn her, "M-Misaka… Don't do it..."  
Mikoto surprised to see Touma capable to talk to her. She smiled at him.  
_(I see he is still alive) _as Mikoto started feeling some relieve

Mikoto said something to Touma "Sorry!"  
_(Before you gone, I prayed that you can come back safe with that smirk of yours… but now that can't come true) _"This may sound very selfish of me but..." She said while looking at him.  
"I want you to live on... for me" as she started crying while she said to herself (_It's time to end this once and for all!) _and charged her Railgun.  
"NO! MISAKA!" Touma shouted in a desperate attempt to stop her.

"Huh… If you want to die with him then DIE!" replied Accelerator calmly as he fixed his sight to Touma.  
_(What? What with that look. His eyes… In his eyes, I don't even more worthy than insects to him… What he want to do only kill 'him') _as Mikoto looked at Touma  
_(and enjoying his new found power, He won't stop everything 'till he is satisfied) _  
Before she could fired her Railgun, she suddenly realized the ball is getting larger and effected her electricity that she already transmitted to her coin.

_(Wait...Plasma!)_ Mikoto was quite surpise to see Accelerator suddenly can control plasma.  
_(I-Impossible, he can use PLASMA! He uses his power to redirect the air to create plasma!)  
_A powerful gust knocked her down and she stumbled Misaka 10032, who was lying beside her.  
_(This is bad, that idiot and her will not survive if Accelerator launches his attacks...I can manipulate electricity to negate the plasma...but it'll be too late!)_

The wind made Mikoto to divert her attention to somewhere else; she saw something that gave her an idea (_Wait...that windmill!) _she saw Misaka 10032 and began to desperately to wake her up. Despite realizing what condition Misaka 10032 in, she kept calling her.

"Hey! Wake up! Please wake up!" Mikoto asked as she shook 10032's body. _(Why? Even though I'm one of only 7 Level 5 in Academy City, I can't do anything by myself)_  
"I'm know I'm saying something rash but… I beg of you!" _(I can't do anything… I can't heal her wounds… I can't stop Accelerator…)_ "I can't protect everyone by myself!"  
Mikoto looked at Touma for the last time before looked at Misaka 10032 _(I can't grant his dream!)_  
"SO PLEASE...USE YOUR POWERS TO PROTECT HIS DREAMS!" She said while thinking about Touma.

Suddenly, 10032 woke up and replied, "I...don't understand.."  
"Huh?" Mikoto surprised.  
"I can't comprehend...what you are saying." 10032 said while staggering to stand up.  
"But for some reason...those words really moved me,' says Misaka in a frank tone of voice." as her hand touched Mikoto's hand.  
Hearing 10032 said that, Mikoto can only replied, "Thank you.."

* * *

"Alright...any last word Old Buddy!" Accelerator said after he ready to send Touma his plasma attack.  
Sudden changes in wind flow disrupted his effort, "Huh? What happening? Am I miscalculated?"  
He tried to reconfigure his calculation but it's still disrupted; He realized a windmill suddenly moved fast.  
_(Wait...The Windmill!) _

He suddenly identified the source of the disruption and stopped his attack  
"I heard of this somewhere...the motor in that windmills moves at a certain electric frequency!" He saw 10032 appeared behind him.  
He looked at her face that immediately disgusted him, "YOU BITCH!"

Somewhere around Academy City, other Sisters are generating more power to the windmill to disrupt Accelerator's calculation.  
He prepared to attack 10032, but Misaka Mikoto stopped by saying, "DO YOU THINK I LET YOU!"  
Accelerator was quite surprise but he shrugged it off, "Hah! Don't get too cocky, you Bitch!"

"In an eye exam, the highest vision you get is 2.0 right?! It's the same as the Academy City ratings...all that you could achieve is Level 5! So it can't be helped you're in the same level as me!" He shouts as he walks towards the two.

"I still won't let you. I won't let you touch ... MY SISTERS anymore!" as Mikoto kept standing beside Misaka 10032. Misaka 10032 felt something weird with her heart. She felt something different. Something new. Something warm.

Mikoto looked at Misaka 10032 "I'm sorry! I know I don't have right to call you that. But…Will you allow me to stand beside in this position, just this once?"  
"Yes" as Misaka 10032 nodded.

"Never mind! You two are such a pain in the ass that I want to kill YOU BOTH TOGETHER!" He confirmed his targets as he started approaching the Misakas. "But, I have a great idea... I will crush you guys in different way!"

A sound could be heard behind Accelerator "Don't …"  
Mikoto shocked with the appearances of the person behind Accelerator, prompting Accelerator to look behind him.  
The two shocked to see Touma, still staggering to stand up after he took quite a beating by the #1 Level 5 and still able to say to Accelerator, "Don't touch them... ya hear me! DON'T TOUCH THEM!"

_(W-What! H-How did that Son of a Bitch survive! That didn't make any sense? Normal humans should be dead by now!)_

Accelerator took a step back and realized. He felt this thing... a feeling that he never feel before

'Fear'

_(A-Anyway...I still can touch HIM!)_ Accelerator started regaining his control after seeing Touma  
_(T-That Idiot! How can he...) _Mikoto shocked the most when she saw Touma still be able to stand.  
"You.." Accelerator said while looking at the slow walking Touma with Mikoto looked at Accelerator.  
Accelerator charged straight at him and let out a roar, "YOU'RE FUNNY YA KNOW THAT! OLD FRIEND!"  
_(NO!) _Mikoto couldn't warn Touma in time, The coin at her hand slipped from her hand.

Touma was staggering to walk towards Accelerator when he saw Accelerator charged straight at him.  
_(Come on…)_

Accelerator tried to touch him but Touma just slapped his hands away with his right hand. This made Accelerator shocked. Touma clenched his right fist and said to Accelerator,

"Hey Old Buddy..."

"Clenched your teeth...this strongest attack from this weakest… MIGHT HURT A BIT!" as his fist getting closer to Accelerator.

Accelerators started remembering his past and what Touma said to him before about Sister and lives.  
About how his pride blinds him from the reality he already did.  
Accelerator had the chance to catch Touma's hand, stopped his attack and killed him, but Accelerator didn't do it.  
_(What the original reason that makes me chase 'absolute' power?)_

_(Really… What am I… doing?) _As Touma hand will make a contact to his face in several more millimeters.

Finally Touma's fist connected squarely at Accelerator's face, forced him flying back a couple of feet near Mikoto and fainted.  
_(He's… defeated!) _Mikoto once again shocked to see the actual #1 Level 5, The Strongest, lie on the ground...motionless and looked at Touma, who's gasping for air.  
The coin that slipped from her hand, hit the ground and started spinning

Touma looked at Mikoto and 10032 and slowly walked towards them until he stopped in front of Mikoto, grabbing her shoulders while saying "Y-You see...I always...keep my...promise..." and collapsed in her embraces.

The only words came to Mikoto's mind but never said it out loud is… (_Thank you… Idiot!)  
_The coin finally stopped spinning and it announced the end of the battle.

* * *

Not far away from there, two spectators watched the fight's outcome.

"Hunyaaa~ Kami-yan managed to do it, For a Level 0 to defeat The Strongest" confirmed the blonde hair boy.  
The another boy behind him finally added, even though no one can see his face well, except the boy in front of him.  
"You will never guess that, It is Kami-yan after all~ Damd! His harem will even increased from now!" replied another boy.

The boy smiled and looked at the scene once more "So we two here only as spectators once more, huh"  
"Seems like it, nya~ With this the [Experiment] over. But…I don't think 'he' really mind this at all"  
"You mean the 'General Superintendent'?"  
"Yeah! Anyway, time to do our job! Seems we need to spread about this to entire Academy City after all! And of course, this information can lead me to something more good" as the boy left the area with his friend.  
"I like what you're thinking~" the other boy replied before leaving the scene.

* * *

**Several hours later after the fated battle**

** London, England  
**  
A silver hair boy is sitting at his bedroom while looking his laptop inside a special dormitory, that only consisted ESPer in England. Kuroshiro Rinnosuke, friend of Kamijou Touma, was reading the newest and most shocking news that was spreading in Academy City. He even asked his twin sister, who lived there to confirm it. Normally, people from outside unable to get access to Academy City's news or even contact person who is living inside Academy City.

But, for Rinnosuke, who happened to be Academy City's student, it is possible.

Off course, he mustn't tell it to anyone.

He looked surprised after see the news, but he immediately changed his facial expression.  
The reason was simple, someone entered his room.  
"Oh! It's you!" said Rinnosuke as he relieved after knowing the person is his own roommate.

A girl, no … a girl 'probably' not correct to address 'this person', who looked like a flat-chest, young, beauty and cute teenage girl with light-purple hair, and dark-green eyes. Her ID Card even tell that her gender is male. Off course, she also said that she is a boy and make chaos to her fans. Again, no one know the reality ... so, Rinnosuke still considered he as a girl.

Back to topic, 'the girl' who is in front of him called Hashima Minami. One of two Academy City's students who transferred to England as part of 'Academy City - England Students Exchange Program'. Rinnosuke was able to share what he found to her.

"What is it? What do you found?" asked Minami to Rinnosuke.

Rinnosuke fixed his eyeglasses and showed what he found to her. Minami read the news and shocked.  
"N... No way! Accelerator defeated!" shouted Minami loudly, but Rinnosuke immediately put a tape at her mouth.  
"Could you just shut up and calm down! If everyone hear it, we can be in trouble!" replied Rinnosuke.

_(Where he got that tape, anyway?)_ Thought Minami as she nodded, Rinnosuke released the tape from Minami's mouth  
"Who defeated him? Accelerator is the most powerful Level 5, you can say that he is invincible and a Level 0 to beat him senseless? Are you sure this isn't a lie? I probably will meet the end if I must fight him" asked Minami  
Rinnosuke looked at her again "Yeah! I already asked Miyu. The news is true, Acccelerator defeated by a Level 0. But, I think I know who defeated him ... probably"

Minami interested on what Rinnosuke is going to say and sit beside him while asking "Who?"

Rinnosuke said his presumption "Touma. Grandpa told me that Touma was brought to hospital like someone who beaten by something. Grandpa was quite surprised after looking at his condition"

Minami just silent after hear it, she knew what is Touma's ability and understood why Rinnosuke said that "Touma huh~ No wonder! He is probably able to hurt Accelerator and he is probably the one who can defeat Accelerator. But, why does he that?"  
Rinnosuke just shook his head "Don't ask! Even I curious about it!"

"... We should probably asks Touma, if he is the one who do it. If it's true, don't you also able to do the same like he does?" asked Minami once again.  
"I'm not sure~ Even though our ability almost the same, I don't think I able to do that kind of crazy act." replied Rinnosuke while looking at his left hand.  
Minami just silent while Rinnosuke continued "But ... I don't think Touma's position will improve ... In fact, with his 'legendary reputation for bad luck', the opposite will be happened. A terrible one!"

Minami just nodded and both of them decided to shut up about the news and started their usual routine and Rinnosuke asked her, "Oh and before you do your thing, can you bring me a cup of coffee while you're at it?"  
Minami winked and nodded, she finally headed out to bring tea to Rinnosuke.  
"I have one more question, though~ Who the hell that spread this news?" as Rinnosuke asked himself

* * *

**St. Peters Basilica,**

Somewhere inside the Basilica, there's a small but fairly spacious room which resembles a modern day office which have a chair, desk and even a computer. Years ago, churchmen despise this so called technology.  
But in this modern world, even the great Roman Catholic Church need to be modernized with the rest of the world.

Inside the room, there is a Cardinal who's gone through pages from certain news on the web, especially from Academy City which he obtained illegally from an unknown source.  
A man in his 20's, entered the office to greet the Cardinal, he have a scars on his right eye and have a black hair, but what is interesting is, he carried a broken cross with him and he is from East-Asian origin.

"Ah Cardinal Antonio, good morning!" the person greeted the Cardinal named Antonio.  
Antonio looked at the person who greeted him and replied, "Well, if it isn't Inquisitor Marcus Hanegawa. How's the mission in France?"  
"Excellent sir, I have successfully…purged the splinter group that tried to run to the Anglican side, like all in God's work." Marcus informed.  
Antonio chuckles and said, "That's Inquisitor Marcus for you...fast, ruthless and merciless."

He looked at one of the news and his face turned serious.

Marcus noticed this and asked, "Is there something bothering you Cardinal?"  
Antonio looked at him and turned the monitor towards him, "Take a look."  
Marcus looked and said to him, "Cardinal, where did you get this?"  
"Of course from our 'reliable' source." Cardinal told him.

Marcus face-palmed and says to him, "You do know that getting information from 'him', you need to pay a lot and he's an Anglican! For Christ sake!"  
"I know, but he serves for the highest bidder, the same as you once. That's why I like him." Antonio replied with a smile.  
Marcus just sigh and looked at the news, "So, the #1 Level 5 is defeated by a Level 0 hmm...? Interesting~ To think someone that 'probably' even more powerful than a Saint defeated. Do you know who did that?"  
"Well, information is still sketchy. But I believe, a man named Kamijou Touma defeated him." Antonio informed.  
"I heard he is the one that rescued the 'Carrier of the Forbidden Library' from Anglican's heretical lie." Marcus informed him.  
"Exactly Marcus! We better careful with him in the meantime." Antonio said and Marcus also agreed with him and after that, the two went to breakfast.

* * *

**Early Morning,**  
On that morning of August the 22nd, what supposed to be another bloody night is now ended with no bloodshed, thanks to Touma who's intervened and stopped the [Experiment], thus saving MISAKA 10032 and the other 'Sisters' from their certain death by Accelerator.

Touma was seen sleeping in a familiar ward; however, he soon became uneasy and woke up.  
_(Ugh! Same hospital room once more)_  
He looked at his side to see that Misaka 10032's figure looms before him, holding his hand which is resting upon her breasts.  
"Mi-Mi-Mi-Misaka-san!" Surprised by this, he asked himself "Why such a happy event is occurring to me? Again, why I don't feel anything? Is this a dream?"  
"'It actually you who grab Misaka' informed Misaka"

Touma shocked after heard that, "T-That's a lie! This Kamijou Touma can't be like that!"

'But, Misaka was the one who moved her savior's hand towards herself, so Misaka can measure his heartbeat and brainwaves using the electric flow in his body; There is nothing sexual about this' informed Misaka"  
Touma started dismay since he cannot feel that he is touching them due to the anesthesia applied on him.  
_(I-I'm touching them right? With this hand? B-But I can't feel anything!)_

Touma blurt out his rest of his mind "It all because the anesthesia! Dammit! Fukou Da!"  
"'I do not find anything wrong with your language function' answers Misaka with a worried tone"

The black cat started meowing and distracted them.  
Misaka 10032 finally released Touma's hand and Touma finally said her something.  
"Anyway, It's good thing we both came back alive"  
"'Misaka cannot return to the same world as you yet' says Misaka as she correcting what her savior says"

Touma looked at her "Is the [Experiment] still continued?"  
Misaka 10032 shook her head while saying "'What Misaka meant is her body. Misaka is quickly grown through the use of chemicals ...'"  
Touma finally get what her say and interrupted her "I see! Clones have a short lifespan and that make your life shorter, right?"  
_(So ... how long does Misaka Imouto have to live ...?) _as Touma gritted his teeth

She saw his expression, and gave him the answer  
"'Misaka must return to the laboratory to make adjustments to the bodies; by controlling the hormones that cause the quick growth, we could some increased our lifespans' informed Misaka"  
"'And Misaka asks, did you just assume that I was going to die' asks Misaka with irritated tone"  
Touma started laughing weakly _(I'm glad)_  
She left the room with her black cat, leaving Touma alone there wondering how long he went unconscious.

* * *

Several hours later, a certain middle school Level 5 and a certain nun are outside his ward, discussing the matter about what happened last night on August the 21st.

"So, he goes through all the trouble just to protect you and your sister, Mikoto?" Index asked Mikoto after she explained what had happened last night.  
"Y-Yeah!" She blushed after thinking back what happened last night.  
Index sighed and said, "Touma! Touma! That's him alright; always help someone even if they don't ask for his help."  
"I-I guess you're right. So Index-san, you live with him now, right? How did it go?" Mikoto asked Index about how she lived with Touma since she is 'freeloading' at Touma's dorm after he and Mikoto rescued her.

Index sighed again, "Touma...he sometimes always forgets to make me lunch...all the time, he even lectured me to behave!" Index pouted and continued, "That's why I always bite his head when I'm angry."  
That last statement surprised Mikoto and she thought, _(Must be tough for him huh?)_

She remembered the time she always tries to duel with him and blushed

_(I no different than her)_

"Nee~ Mikoto! You like Touma, don't you?" Index suddenly asked her after noticing her blush.  
"W-What! Don't be r-ridiculous! That idiot! No way! A-Anyway, let's visit him okay." Mikoto suggested to Index.

* * *

**Inside his ward,**  
Touma still sleeping soundly, like his burden has been relieved and been let asleep comfortably since last night, the two girls actually see him smiling when he slept.  
Mikoto especially looked at his wounds and thought, (_Going all through that trouble just to keep your promise...to me)_  
"Touma! Touma!" Index started shaking Touma to wake up.  
"Hey! Is that a good idea to do that?" Mikoto asked Index but the nun wasn't listening to her.

Touma awoke only to find Index in front of him and he surprised to see her, "I-I-Index-san!"  
"Touma~ Got anything to say?" Index stared at him while smiling.  
"Umm...Good morning?" is the only answer he said and that choice made him eligible to indulge in a sensation of pain from his head, thanks to Index who's biting his head right after he replied.  
"UWAHHRGHH!" He shouted in pain, his shout was loud enough that even it could be match by a siren.  
Mikoto tried to control her laughter after seeing the scene.

"Touma~ I waited for you all night and hungry at that time, you know! If it not because Komoe, I should be died by now!" Index pouted in front of him.  
"You won't be de- I meant! I'm sorry Index-sama!" as Touma tried to apologize after saw Index's scary glare.  
Index's expression changed into a smile, "Apology accepted! You know, Mikoto-chan came tonight with her sister to tell about what has happened to you and they are also buying me food too!"  
Touma puzzled when he heard Index explanation, "Misaka?"

Touma turned to his left and saw Mikoto next to him.

"Thank goodness you're alright!" He said after he saw her.  
Before Mikoto began to say something, Index intervened, "She and I both come to see you!"  
Touma replied while smiling, "Is that so? Well, thanks Index, Biribiri."  
Mikoto puffed her cheek, "At least call me Misaka Mikoto"

Mikoto gave Touma a package, "H-Here! I took a long time to choose a good cookie for you!"

Touma took the packed cookies and frowned before he started complaining, "You know, homemade cookies are very tasty than these."  
Mikoto asked him, "What kind of character you want me to be?"  
He quickly replied, "No no, you know, **working hard while clumsily making cookies... **it could be good example for you too, Index."

The two of them suddenly growled and asked again, with one ready to bite whiles the others, showing her 'electric fist' "WHAT EXACTLY KIND OFF CHARACTERS YOU WANT US TO BE!"

Touma immediately raised his hand to protect himself and beg for mercy, "Stop! Seriously please stop! I'm already dying here!"  
"Geez..." the two sighed and Index immediately took the cookies and began to eat it with her kitten.

_(Index...food is always her first priority) _Touma thought.  
Touma called Mikoto, "Hey, Misaka Imouto visits me last night" and Touma tell what happened that night.  
Mikoto suddenly started to said, "If I had not given my DNA map...they-"  
Touma immediately understood and said, "Yeah, I know...but you know… without it, the Sisters wouldn't even have been born."

Misaka 10032 was heading back to the hospital to meet the boy again. She almost opened the room's door when she heard the conversation between Touma and Mikoto.

"The [Experiment] might have been a twisted one...but you also should take pride from it for the fact that they were born." Touma began to talk to her.  
Mikoto said, "Even if 10 thousand of them killed?" She intentionally said that to see Touma's reaction. Index is too occupied with food that she didn't care their conversation.

Misaka 10032, who's eavesdropping on the two, wanted to know Touma's answer.  
Surprisingly, he replied, "Yeah"  
And Mikoto thought (_Yeah?!)_  
Touma continued while looking over the window, "The Sisters aren't angry with you for bringing them into this world...so if they weren't born, they would've never experience sorrow or happiness..."

Touma looked at her, "So, it's okay...for you to smile and I'm sure that they wouldn't want to see you depressed about them." with a smile on his face.  
Deep inside Mikoto's heart, she knew that he's not lying and that make her realized to cherishe her Sisters like a part of her family.

"Yeah"

Misaka 10032, after hearing Touma's conversation with Mikoto, felt something that she couldn't recognize in herself.

Even after that great speech, Index still busy indulging herself with the cookies until Misaka 10032 came in.  
"Onee-sama.." Misaka Imouto said to Mikoto when she came in.  
"Eh? Misaka Imouto!" Touma surprised to see her again, even Mikoto too.  
"'The previous reading is incomplete...' informed Misaka".

The black cat on Misaka Imouto left her hand and went playing with Index's Sphynx.

After that, Misaka 10032 said again, "So, just in case..."

Suddenly she grabbed Touma's hand and put it in her breast, making Mikoto shocked and became stone after see that Unluckily, Index too as she wanted to say something to Touma. For Touma, this may be lucky since anesthesia inside his body already gone, and he can feel them. Unluckily, two 'demons' are ready to give him 'PAIN'

_(Uwahh! It's soft! So that's how Misaka... No! Girl's breast is...)_

"W-W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Mikoto shouted at her and Touma.  
She separated 10032 from Touma, "What are you trying to do pervert!"

"W-Wait! It's not my fault!" Touma said as he sensed a deathly glare from a certain nun.  
Misaka 10032 said to Mikoto, "This person's injuries are partially Misaka's fault, so I have the obligation to look after his health."  
Mikoto stared at her and suddenly thought if she were in 10032's shoes _(...Wait! Am I myself a pervert!)_

She shook her head while blushing.  
"Geez! Anyway, let's go!" She said as she grabbed 10032's hand.  
"But Misaka is-" Misaka 10032 wanted to say something before being cut off by Mikoto.  
Before the two left, Mikoto take a last look back at Touma and smiles at him while saying, "See you..." and left.

After they left, Touma let out a huge sigh but he forgot a certain danger… again.  
"TOUMA~!" Index glared at him with a deathly glare and her teeth sharp, ready to kill.  
"Index...I can explain..."  
A minute later, a very loud scream echoed throughout the hospital from a certain room.

**At the Heaven Canceler office,**  
Heaven Canceler is just doing his ordinary business when he heard Touma's scream again.  
"*chuckles*...That boy…all's in the days work I guess." He only said that and continued on his work.

**A minute later,**  
"Touma, if you do something like that without my permission, I'll bite you again!" Index said to him.  
"W-Wait! without your permission!...Fukou Da..."  
"Anyway Touma, what do you fight for?" Index asks Touma whom he really fights for.  
The only answer he can gives is, "I fight for myself" **_and for the ones I care... _**as Index looked outside and saw Mikoto, who dragged her Imouto

* * *

**Outside,  
**After getting back Misaka Imouto's black cat, they both sit at the park. Misaka Imouto started talking "It's so mysterious"  
Mikoto decided to listen to her 'sister' carefully. "Misaka was supposed to die last night"

"Something that so natural after being repeated more than 10.000 times. Yet at this moment" Imouto put her hand on her chest "I still alive, continuing my activity"

"Because of Onee-Sama and that boy, I lost the actual goal." Mikoto understood what her sister saying

_[Experiment]_

"But that boy made we realized something"

Misaka Imouto shut her eyes and remembering what Touma said to her.

_"- Saying you're an artificial body...and that you can be reproduce over and over...I COULDN'T CARE LESS ABOUT THAT!"_

_"- YOU IS YOU! YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE OF YOU IN THE WORLD! SO ARE THE OTHER'S!"_

_"- That's why...that's why you cannot throw your life away, I still have many things to teach to you... THIS WORLD COULD TEACH MANY THINGS TO YOU!"_

"So..." Misaka Mikoto looked at Misaka Imouto "'In order to see meaning of life. Please stick with me and help me out to find it, together,' says Misaka as she musters all her selfishness."The black cat jumped to Misaka Imouto's arm and played with her

Mikoto started smiling while looked the sky "Yeah, I will."

* * *

**The next day,**

After one more day of staying in the hospital, the Hospital authority finally decided that Touma is fit enough to get out from the hospital and Touma decided to have a final checkup with Heaven Canceler.  
"Mhm...okay, no problems so far. Well, Kamijou Touma! You're free to go!" Heaven Canceler informed as he finished checking Touma's body that's been covered in bandage and plasters.  
"Thanks Doc! Thank you very much!" Touma thanked him.  
"I don't need thank, I'm a doctor after all. It's my duty to save lives you know." Heaven Canceler replied while chuckled at him.

Touma decided to leave the room before Heaven Canceler asks him one more time, "Hey Touma, that girl who brought you here two days ago, Misaka Mikoto right?"  
"Yeah, why?" Touma surprised that Heaven Canceler asked.  
"I've met her before and you can trust me, she's very dependable girl despite her looks...take care of her, okay." Heaven Canceler said while gave him a wink.

"Huh?" Touma confused and started thinking what Heaven Canceler meant before he saw something thrown to the air and grabbed it.  
"Hey Doc, what do you want me to do with this?" He asked when he opened his hand to see what he assumed a limited edition Gekota key chain that he watched on the advertisement in TV.  
"Give that to her! As token of gratitude that she sent you here in time. Frankly, your injuries are pretty bad and worse than any injuries suffer by ordinary human...or even ESPers." Heaven Canceler explained in a serious tone.

Touma realized that he had suffered pretty bad injuries and if not because of Mikoto, he would've died that day.  
"Oh and one more thing! If her friends or someone the same age as her seeing her with that, she will be embarrassed and can get very angry at a point. So please choose your words okay." Heaven Canceler advised him.  
"I-I see... Thanks for the advice! Doc, see ya… Wait! Why I say that, It like saying I will be in hospital again! Fukou Da!"

Heaven Canceler smiled at his comment and Touma left the room.

"Well~ I've already done what you ask. Is that good?" asked Heavan Canceler while looking at phone near there.  
It seemed that phone already connected for quite some time.  
A voice came out, a boy's voice

"Yeah! Touma need to be reminded like that~ By the way, Grandpa! I will be back in one or two more weeks to Japan ... until that time, I am going to wonder, just how this Misaka Mikoto looked like to him~ Well~ I guess a random kindness sometimes good in time like this~"

"Really~ you always did this? Rinnosuke?" asked Heaven Canceler.  
"Not really~ But after learned that he actually the one who stop [Experiment]~ I just thinking 'this girl named Misaka Mikoto' is going to need someone like 'him' as ally and friend. That's all~"  
"Sometime, I don't understand what you think like your deceased father"  
"I take that as compliment! See you!" replied Rinnosuke as he cut the phone line.

"Still... if you two meet again, will the boy remember you..." said Heaven Canceler as he realized Touma lost most of his memories and his grandson didn't aware of this fact at all.

* * *

**An hour later,**

Touma was walking back to his dorm through the usual route on a pedestrian bridge, thinking what should he cook because of a 'freeloader' in his dorm, who is Index, loved eating.  
"Fukou Da... I have no idea what to cook tonight?"

Touma looked at the Gekota key chain he received from Heaven Canceler  
(_What is that Doctor wanted me to do with her huh? I really think the one who planned all of this is not him at all!)_

He remembered the moment where Misaka 10032 forced him to touch her breast to get some 'reading' yesterday and suddenly thought if that were Mikoto.  
Touma immediately noticed his own blushes and immediately said to himself, "Hey! Get a hold on yourself Kamijou Touma! You're not a pervert...right?"  
On his way, he suddenly saw Misaka Mikoto standing at that bridge, looking at the scenery while holding a brown paper bag.

**At the same time,**  
"Geez, where is Onee-sama gone to now? Last night she arrived late and this morning she's gone." complained Kuroko while finding Mikoto through her phone.  
It seemed Kuroko still not removed the GPS that she put in Mikoto's cellphone  
"Saten said she visits her dorm to do something and went off again..." She said before she saw her Onee-sama at that bridge.  
"Ah Onee-sama! Wait...AND THAT APE TOO!"

**Meanwhile,**  
_(Biri-Biri? What is she doing here?)_

Touma decided to greet her when he heard her saying something.  
"To think he made me made homemade cookies! If he won't take them, then I won't leave him off easily!" He heard Mikoto said that.  
_(Wait, she actually took my words back there at the hospital yesterday? Humph~ She's a good girl, after all)_

Touma acted like he heard nothing and greeted her.

"Who won't let off easily?" Touma asked with a smile.  
Mikoto surprised seeing him in a plasters and bandages.  
"Wha-! Why are you doing here! Besides, is it okay for you to move around?" She said to him.  
Touma chuckled, "Well, I don't want to piling up my hospital bill you know."

Touma's expression turned to agony.

"And also a 'freeloader' who's ferocity will grow day by day, you know." reminded Touma while referring to Index.  
"Ah...I see..." As Mikoto knew what he meant.  
"So, what are you doing here actually? Did you actually want to pay another visit to me at the hospital?"  
Mikoto quickly said, "N-No! You're mistaken!"  
Touma laughed and said, "Hey, it's no use to forcefully deny it."

_(Why is she denying that?)_

"Ah no, it's not just to see you…uhm…this time...you have helped me a great deal..a lot..so..so" Mikoto began to stutter.

"I know, you're welcome. I only do that because my own sake~" Touma said to her.

Mikoto surprised

_(How did he know I was going to thank him?)_

Touma asked her, "Hey, what's that inside that brown bag? Cookies?"

_(How did he know about that?) _Mikoto more shocked that he knew about the cookies.  
"If that cookies, I want to taste it if you wanted to, I can smell that miles away you know." as he smiled at her.  
Mikoto handed him immediately the bag of cookies and he took one and ate it with her anxious to see if her first homemade cookies is good.  
"...Mmm..It's quite good! This is very good thanks!" Touma praised her as he chew the cookies.  
"W-Well, I made it to thank you for what you've d-done!" She said while closing her eyes

Suddenly Touma gave the rest of the cookies to her.

"Why?"  
"Well, it's good! But, I want you to have the rest! Okay! Oh and I nearly forgot, take this." while he pulled out something from his pocket and put it on her hand.  
She immediately saw it and realized that it is a limited edition Gekota key chain and immediately look at Touma and said, "H-How do you know I like this! ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE A FUN OF ME!"  
"H-Hey! Wait! It's a gift of thanks for sending me to the hospital the night after the fight okay! I know if you see this with anyone else, you'll be embarrassed. But I know that this is what you are and I wanted you to stay the same okay." he said while choosing his words carefully.

Mikoto finally cool down and said, "T-Thank you..."  
"Well then, I need to go home quickly so I'll see ya later Biri-Biri!" replied Touma.

"MISAKA MIKOTO!"  
"Huh?"

"My name is Misaka Mikoto, not Biri-Biri! Don't forget that!"  
Touma looked at Misaka Mikoto and replied, "And my name is Kamijou Touma, not 'You' or 'Idiot'."  
Suddenly, Touma asked her, "Want to help me prepare food for Index...Misaka?"  
When he said her family name, Mikoto felt easy and happy. Touma didn't know Mikoto's expression is

(_Wait! Am I do something wrong again!_.)

Mikoto turned to him and he saw her smiled at him and said, "Sure, let's go. I want to meet her anyway...K-Kamijou-san" she blushed when she said his name.

And the two walked together to Touma's dorm.

**At another place,**  
"NO! NO! ONEE-SAMA! I WON'T FORGIVE YOU KAMIJOU-SAN! NO! BARBARIAN! I GONNA KILL YOU!" as Kuroko hit her head on a nearby lamp-post after seeing that particular scene and stared at Touma with a deadly intent.  
The other pedestrians look at her and say to the other, "Hey, should we call Judgment to handle this?"  
"Nah, let her do her thing."

They preferred to ignore Kuroko and left that place immediately while the person herself filled with a killing intent and rage.

* * *

**And with this the 2nd Arc is over XD ... Next Arc ... Angel Fall**

**Hope with the changes I made, you guys can enjoy reading it… seriously! Please enjoy it.**


	5. Angel Fall Arc 1

**23rd August,**

At the same day Touma released from the hospital, he met Mikoto and asked her to go to his house to cook some food for Index. The two walked together to Touma's dorm. However, those two were unaware of something, more correctly someone. A certain twin-pigtailed Judgment girl, Misaka Mikoto's kouhai, Shirai Kuroko, followed the two to his dorm.

On her way, she stumbled upon a short pink haired girl with a pink dress, looking for someone. Struggling between her private life and duty, Kuroko started having her doubt.

_(Huh? A little girl lost? Oh man! I wanted to follow Onee-sama to where that Ape gone too!...Well, I'm a Judgment so I have to help this girl first.) _She thought as she approached the girl.

"Where is he?" the girl mumbled to herself.  
"Umm...little girl, are you lost?" Kuroko asked.  
The little girl looked at Kuroko and puffed her cheek, "I'm not a little girl! I'm an adult woman!"

_(What with this girl?) _"Umm, are you looking for someone? Are you looking for your guardian?" She began to ask.

Why she said guardian? This is because parents are not allowed to enter Academy City and can be only allowed to visit their children if they have the permission or during an open event by Academy City for the public.

"Who do you think I am? A kindergartener!" replied the girl angrily at her.  
"Hey! I'm trying to help you!" Kuroko was nearing her limit (_Patience Kuroko! You've handled criminals before...keep your cool! This girl just a little kid ... YEAH! A Little Kid!)_

"That's it! I can find my own way! Besides I need to see Kamijou-chan for something important right now!" the girl explained her intention to Kuroko.  
_(Wait, Kamijou-chan? That's the APE's name, right? She is trying to find the same guy? Is that Ape a lolicon? I must make Onee-Sama realize it! If I can do it then ... Onee-Sama …)_

Kuroko started drooling and fallen into her own delusion.

The little girl could felt chill 'till her spine, before Kuroko finally snapped out and asked her a question "Umm...miss? Do you know Kamijou-san too?"  
The girl looked at her curiously and mumbled something like "_Kamijou-chan got a new girl again?"_

"What is your business to find Kamijou-chan?"  
"W-Well, I have something to talk about him. Can I follow you too?" Kuroko began to ask politely to the girl

"If that so, okay!" Komoe nodded and the two began to move to Touma's dorm. "Oh I forgot, my name is Tsukuyomi Komoe, you are..."  
"Shirai Kuroko." The two introduced themselves.  
And unknown to Shirai, the girl that she actually followed is ... four times older than she looked

* * *

**Awhile later,**

_(Ohoho... so this is the Abomination's 'hide out' huh?)_ Kuroko thought as she looked at Touma's dorm. Kuroko followed Komoe and entered the dorm's entrance when a familiar maid suddenly appeared on a cleaner robot.  
"Yo Komoe-sensei!" The maid greeted Komoe.  
"T-Tsuchimikado-san!" Kuroko surprised to see the maid, Tsuchimikado Maika, sister of one of her student here.  
On other hand, Kuroko knew Maika as a maid in training that worked at Tokiwadai Dormitory.

"Ah Kuroko-san! Nice meeting you here!" Maika looked at Kuroko with a grin.  
"Being with your brother again, Maika-chan?" Komoe talked to Maika.  
Maika nodded and replied, "Well, I need to buy groceries to make food for my brother... oh and Shirai-san, if you searching for Misaka-san, she's with Touma Onii-Chan at his room now." Maika informed Kuroko.

Hearing that, Kuroko began to teleport to Touma's room, leaving Komoe with Maika behind.  
"ONEE-SAMA! HOLD ON!" She shouted as she teleported right away.  
"Wait!" Komoe shouted as she began to chase her.  
"Then see you later, Sensei!" as Maika left Komoe.

* * *

In Touma's room there were three people with one cat inside. The room owner, who also a high school boy, Kamijou Touma. A certain Level 5 Tokiwadai middle school, Misaka Mikoto. Both of them are at the kitchen. At living room, A Certain nun and 'freeloader' called Index played with her cat, Sphinx. The two are cooking some food for the three of them as the nun didn't do anything ... or probably couldn't do any chores.

"I never knew Maika-san live here too." Mikoto said that after seeing Maika before.  
Touma, who's cutting vegetables, looked at her "Well, she sometimes stay at her brother's place if something happens at her own dorm."  
"Is that so?" Mikoto asked while she presumed cooking some chickens that the two bought some food at a nearby grocery stores before arriving at the dorm.  
"Touma~! Is it ready yet?" Index began to shout.

"Not yet! Just a bit more!" Touma shouted back as he skillfully used his knife.  
Mikoto looked at Touma, "I don't know you could cook."  
"Well, as you see, I have to learn everything to live alone since I'm arrived here. So yeah, I'm pretty good myself! When I come to Academy City for the first time, Komoe-Sensei always helping me a lot. Back then I just a grade schooler..._(I think)_" informed Touma, though he not sure about it since he couldn't remember it at all.

*knock*knock*!

"Who is it now?" asked Touma  
"I'll get it!" Mikoto added as she left the kitchen to open the door.  
When she opened the door, she saw Kuroko suddenly appeared before her.  
"ONEE-SAMA!" She shouted with a scary face.

*Bang!* A sound of a fist hit Kuroko's head can be heard.  
"Ouch! Onee-sama!" Kuroko said as she rubbed her head.  
"Don't scare me like that! Besides, h-how do you know I'm here!" Mikoto asked.  
Touma headed out from the kitchen after heard the loud noise, "Hey Misaka, who is that?"

He and Kuroko faced eye to eye and a moment of silence filled the air.

_(Wait...if Onee-sama comes from the kitchen...then...) _Kuroko suddenly imagine Mikoto and Touma doing a 'couple in the kitchen' scene._  
_Kuroko turned to Mikoto and asked, "Onee-sama, are you from the kitchen too?"  
Mikoto just nodded and replied, "Is there any problem with that Kuroko?"

After hearing that, Kuroko began her move  
"YOU! I'LL KILL YOU BARBARIAN APE!" Kuroko pushed down Touma and prepared her metal spikes in her hand.  
"GYAHHH! WHAT THE HELL!" Touma screamed as she saw Kuroko's killing intent.  
An arc of electricity hit Kuroko and fainted.

"Are you okay?" Mikoto asked if he hurt by Kuroko.  
Touma just nodded and tried to stand up while looking at 'burnt' Kuroko  
"Umm...Misaka-san, you sure have a weird friend." Touma added, he never thought this is the kind of girl Kuroko is  
"Really? Well, you'll get used to it...eventually" replied Mikoto

"Fukou da..." Touma muttered but just as he thought his misfortune is over, Kuroko suddenly woke up like a mummy that raised from its sleep in horror movies and headed straight to Mikoto.  
"Onee-sama! Please open your eye!"  
_(Uwahh! What a quick recovery!) _Touma surprised that Kuroko recovered faster than he anticipated.

"Why Kuroko?" Mikoto asks.  
"THAT APE! THAT APE! HE IS A LOLICON!" Kuroko shouted while pointing at Touma.  
"Haa?" Touma was clueless of what Kuroko said to him.  
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't shock you, Kuroko?" Mikoto asked as she showed her electric fist.

"A cute little girl comes to visit THAT APE for something important!" accused Kuroko.  
Mikoto looked at Touma, "Is that so..." Electric charges can be seen around her forehead.  
"W-Wait! Y-You're wrong! I don't know what she meant! ... Or maybe I am?"  
Before Mikoto could attack him, Komoe came "What's going on here?"

Everyone looked at her and Index 'the freeloader' was curious on what happening.  
"Huh? Komoe-sensei?" Mikoto looked at her

_(Oh, she's the one Kuroko said about) _Mikoto immediately face-palmed herself.  
Kuroko looked at Komoe when Mikoto called the little girl, "Wait, Sensei?"  
"Yeah, she's Kamijou-san's teacher." Mikoto informed Kuroko.  
Kuroko froze after hearing about it; Komoe puffed her cheek as she knew that it will be a hard time to convince Kuroko that she is Touma's teacher.

* * *

After few misunderstandings straighten out, Touma, Mikoto and Kuroko sat together. Komoe announced that she gave Touma a temporary leave from summer replacement class. Index as usual, are gobbling down the food that Touma and Mikoto cooked so she's 'preoccupied' with her own meal.

"Have you decided where to spend your time?" asked Komoe  
"Well, the problem is not the place, Sensei ... it's about Index."

Mikoto knew what he meant, "Yeah, it will be troublesome..."  
Touma asked Mikoto, "Hey Misaka, are you going out too?"  
"W-Well I-" Before Mikoto even wanted to say what she's going to say, Kuroko interrupted and shouted to Touma.  
"DON'T YOU TRY TO BRING MY ONEE-SAMA!" Kuoko immediately teleported herself and Mikoto before Mikoto could reply the question.  
"*sigh*...So Sensei, any reason why you give me a leave?"

Komoe, who's finished her lunch, looked at him, "Well~ It seems some chaos happened because some random act that you did. The higher ups are now restless because of that. They call me and tell me to give you the permit. Until the situation is under control, you may not come back to Academy City"  
_(So basically they tried to kick me?)_

There is quite a number of information that may be needed to explain about this problem...so let's start from the beginning

3 days ago, Kamijou defeated the most powerful psychic user (Level 5), Accelerator. The rumor regarding the battle had spread like wildfire despite the scarcity of students during summer break. With that, one might think that Kamijou's position had improved- but in reality, it had been the reverse.

"I see! If we defeat that Level 0, we can have Academy City's title of the strongest psychic user!" Because of that rumor, the town delinquents had gathered, and had gone after Kamijou, starting the game of survival hunt.

The Good thing is no one knows who defeated Accelerator  
The Bad Thing, thanks to that ... Every Level 0 life become more and more miserable.  
The Worst Thing is…his misfortune is now becoming more worst by the moment... If one knows his identity...its GAME OVER!

"Ah...I see.." (_Anyway, how the hell did she know?)_ Touma replied to Komoe's explanation as he knew that he almost stirred a hornet nests for stopping the [Experiment]  
She pulled out pamphlet from her bag, "This place is pretty good to spend your summer outside the City, Kamijou-chan!"  
He took the pamphlet and looked at it, "Oowari Beach?"

"Yup, it's a good place you know. Go over there for vacation." Komoe said while she decided to leave his dorm.  
"Going back, Sensei?" Touma asked his teacher.  
"Yeah, thanks for the food. Oh and by the way, why don't you call your parents to spend time together, I'm sure they miss you too. As your guardian, I will informed them if you don't mind" Komoe told him before she closed the door and went back home.

_(Calling my parents huh? Maybe a good idea...I need to know them from the scratch again thanks to my memory lost...)_  
Index saw the pamphlet and asked Touma, "Touma~ Are we going to the beach? Let me join you! You promise me before!"  
Touma remembered that he ever made the promise about it to Index when he tried to safe her from the magic that tried to mess up her brain

"Fine! I promise to find a way so that we can go to the beach together, okay? It's hard for you to go out from the City without being detected by Anti-Skill on the checkpoint."

Touma ensured her while patting her head.

"Touma~ is Mikoto also together with us?"  
"Hmm...I don't know yet…maybe she won't."

Index was a bit sad, "Well, I still have Touma, right?"  
Touma smiled and nodded.  
"Let me think of a way..."

After a few minute of thinking, Touma finally gave up. (_Aww man...I give up...there is no way I can make Index goes out from Academy City legally...)__  
_He thought as he saw Index still plays with her kitten. _(Should I use that way?)_

* * *

Mikoto and Kuroko are now at a certain café after leave Touma's dorm to meet Uiharu and Saten.  
"Hey Kuroko, you don't have to be so hostile to Kamijou-kun, you know" Mikoto said to Kuroko after hitting her head again because of her act towards Touma.  
_(Onee-sama said Kamijou-KUN! THAT BARBARIAN!) _"Sorry Onee-sama, I won't do that again"  
-Kuroko's hate meters towards her 'rival' increased.-

Some minutes passed, Uiharu Kazari and Saten Ruiko came to together to meet with Mikoto and Kuroko.  
"Ah Shirai-san, you called to meet together, what is it?" Uiharu asked Kuroko.  
"Oh well, since this is summer holiday, I know all of us bored to spend the rest of the holiday at Academy City."  
"Just tell us what are you planning Kuroko, I hope this isn't of your perverted plan..." warned Mikoto while giving Kuroko a glare.

"Hoho...why should I do that Onee-sama, I just suggesting these." Kuroko showed them a pamphlet.  
Mikoto, Uiharu and Saten looked at the pamphlet before looking at each other and looked Kuroko once more.  
"Oowari Beach?" The three looked at Kuroko.  
"Yeah, that place. Some said it is a very good place, we should go together to spend the remaining holidays." suggested Kuroko.

_(I wanna make sure Onee-Sama forget that Ape. And the other reason is ... I wanna see Onee-Sama in her special swimsuit that I prepared myself!)_

"You know, sometimes you can give a very good idea you know." Mikoto replied while smiling at her.  
"That's mean Onee-sama have accepted me!" Kuroko shown her affectionate eyes until Mikoto said "No"  
Kuroko fell in despair again while Uiharu tried to comfort her, "That's fine Shirai-san..."

Little they know, fate will come to meet Kamijou Touma and Misaka Mikoto at that very place.

* * *

Touma couldn't believe it himself, they finally stopped by the Anti-Skill that guard the gate

_(Oh, no, we're gonna be caught!) _Thought Touma while looking at his friend, the sister, beside him  
_(How this all ended like this! Dammit! I gonna punched by Stiyl and Kanzaki! WAIT! WHY I WAS THINKING BEST CASE SCENARIO! GOD DAMMIT!) _Screamed Touma in his mind as the Anti-Skill checked them one by one.

For your information, this white sister, who sitting beside Touma, had no plans to tag along in the first place; she was supposed to stay in Academy City. Touma had planned to leave her- and her cat- in Komoe-sensei's custody. After reflecting upon it, it had naturally been the best choice. However, that white sister is not one of the students enrolled in the city- in other words, she is an outsider. That airhead sister might be spotted and caught by the Anti-Skills. That said, Kamijou still had no way to make her a pass to leave the city.

But the sister in white had not cared one bit about that fact. Kamijou had given up when he had seen a crying Index after she had been told to stay home.

As a result, he had tried smuggling the sister out of the city.

To put it simply, they had just needed to call a taxi, let Index hide in the rear seat or compartment, and wait until they got past the gate. Kamijou could not believe that he had considered carrying out this cheap method. However, things did not really go his way; they had been stopped at the gate. It seemed that an infrared seeker and a MRI scanner were used to monitor the vehicles passing through.

However, they had not actually been arrested. It had appeared that Index had been registered as a guest with a guest ID.

Both Kamijou and Index had not known about this.

_(I wonder who registered Index? No the question now is HOW 'THIS' SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!) _As The Anti-Skill just said "Go Ahead"  
_(Are my ears already wrong? Or I am dreaming?)_

Another info that needs to be explained is the registration of a person requires three things.

Fingerprints, a voice-print, and retina patterns of the person.

Well, voice and retina patterns can easily be forged by using a high resolution video camera, and even fingerprints can be duplicated by using either aluminum or carbon powder. But why the Anti-Skill don't do all those things? One thing for sure, they already passed the gate and Index waved good bye to the Academy City. And Touma started screaming as he don't understand on how come all of this happened.

"How in the world did he just let us go without a second look?!"

* * *

Finally both of them arrived at the beach lodge and Touma already reserved two ... no, three rooms.  
One for his parents, One for his cousin, who will also come there and the final one for Touma and Index (of course, Index get the more bigger place than Touma)

_(I wonder how my cousin looked like ... What my parents gonna say if they learned 'she' with me. Better lie to them a little) _thought Touma as he looked at Index.  
_(It is going to be problem if they know about Index) _as he carrying his last things to his room

"Touma! Touma! Let's go to the beach!" shouted Index as she looked outside  
Touma immediately called her "Before that, let's buy some swimsuit from you!"  
Index immediately silent

"What?" as Touma feels weird at how Index stared at him

"Are you sick?" asked Index  
"No!" replied Touma  
"Really?" asked her once more  
"WHY YOU ASKING ME THAT!" shouted Touma immediately

"Because Touma always cold!"  
"Ugh! I'm cold because YOU EAT MY SUPPLIES! Don't you know how starving or how suffer I am each time to eat my hidden food?"  
"It because they all tasty and I'm hungry" replied Index innocently  
Touma really wanted to scold her but he stopped (_I don't want to get bitten anyway)_

"If you want to play or swim at beach, you need proper swimsuit" replied Touma as he stands up  
Index seemed happy and said "Let's go!"  
"Yeah! Yeah! Let's see shop near here!" replied Touma as he scratched his head

After they went out, Mikoto and her friends finally arrived at the beach lodge at the afternoon  
Kuroko immediately went to the receptionist "Two Rooms!"  
"Then I will be with Uiharu!" said Saten immediately  
"Let's put our things first to our room before go to the beach" suggested Uiharu and everyone there agreed

* * *

**Several Hours Later at the Beach,**

Touma and Index qwre taking a rest after going to the beach but as always, Touma's misfortune would always follows him everywhere he goes because when he was at the beach, Touma was stung accidentally by a Jellyfish when Index suddenly came to him and showed him the Jellyfish that she found.  
"Fukou da...couldn't this day get any worse?" Touma lamented his bad luck days. Even before they rested, Touma spent considerably a lot amount of money when playing a game, where he always lost in the arcade game provided at the resort.

"Touma, I'm hungry..." Index came to him while saying that words.  
"Hungry? Alright, let's go, the owner probably have prepared the food for us." Touma replied as he and Index went down to the lobby to eat.

**At the same time,**  
"Onee-sama! I think it's time to eat!" Kuroko said as she looks at the time on the wall clock.  
Saten agreed after hearing a grumble in her stomach, "Yeah, I think my tummy begins to protest."  
"I agree, I heard the food here is quite good." Uiharu said as she turned off the Laptop.  
"Uiharu, why you always bring your Laptop? It's holiday for God sake!" Kuroko said after seeing her turning off the computer.

"I need it to have an up to date situation from Judgement database, who knows when we will be needed." Uiharu said with a confidence that what she doing is right.  
"Enough of that girls, let's go, I'm hungry." Mikoto finally said and everyone headed out to the lobby.

**On the lobby,**  
As Touma and Index come through another door, little did they know that Mikoto and the other's too will come from another door. A moment later, Touma and Mikoto stared at each other, along with Index and Mikoto's friend.  
"M-Misaka-san?" Touma said her name.  
"K-Kamijou-san?" Mikoto also do the same.

Realization took its place as they realized this scene is neither a hallucination nor a dream.  
"WHA-! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!" Both of them shocked.  
"Ah! It's Mikoto!" Index suddenly happy as she saw Mikoto too.  
Touma sensed a deadly glare from a certain twin-pigtailed girl.

"You..."  
"Y-Yes!" Touma squeaked as he looked at the raging Kuroko.  
"HOW DARE YOU COME HERE! ARE YOU TRYING TO STALK ONEE-SAMA! BARBARIAN!" Kuroko prepared a flying kick and her target is Touma.  
Touma began his defensive posture as he said, "W-Wait! I'm not a Barbarian! I'm here to meet my family! WAIT!"

Just as her feet nears Touma's face, a sound of someone get electrocuted is heard and Kuroko landed on the dining table with a *Bump!*.  
"Geez cut that out Kuroko!" Mikoto scolded Kuroko.  
Seeing what happened, Saten and Uiharu confused and they began to asked Mikoto.  
"Ne~ Misaka-san, is that guy your boyfriend?" Saten began to ask her.

Surprised at the question, she answered hesitantly, "B-B-... N-N-No! He's just my friend! Yeah! Friend!"  
Index walked to her and hugged her arm saying, "You come at last! Touma said you couldn't come but I'm glad you come!"  
"Thanks and nice to seeing you again Index" Mikoto replied the hug with caressing Index's hair.

Uiharu started to answer another question, "Misaka-san, is that silver haired girl is your friend too?"  
Mikoto nodded, "A good friend of mine"  
"Umm~ Well...it's pretty awkward but...nice seeing you again Misaka." Touma said while smiling.  
"Y-Yeah! You too!" Mikoto blushed.

Unknown to the two Saten talks to Uiharu, "I can see love hanging around here."  
"What do you mean Saten-san? Wait it couldn't be!" Uiharu realized what Saten meant after saw Touma and Mikoto.

After all of that event, they started the dinner; Kuroko woke up later and scolded by Mikoto.  
She currently sits next to her while staring at Touma during the course of the dinner.

* * *

After the dinner and an introductory discussion between Touma and Index to other of Mikoto's friend, they all went for bed that peaceful night.

**At Mikoto's room,**  
Mikoto and her friends went to bed peacefully after Mikoto electrocuted Kuroko for making another 'attempt' at her. After a few hours into bed, Mikoto suddenly woke up.  
"I need to go to the toilet" Mikoto said as she woke up.  
She went to the toilet that night in her semi-unconscious state. After that she headed back to her room, or so she thought.

**At Touma's room,**  
Touma and Index slept peacefully after the dinner.  
Well Index is the one snoring loudly, making Touma wide awake.  
"Damn Index...snoring like that...Fukou da..." He muttered to himself after seeing Index in deep sleep.  
Suddenly, he heard someone open the slide door of his room and he saw it was Mikoto who is wearing her pajama with her shoulder exposed.

"M-Misaka!" Touma nearly shouted as he realized that he will wake Index up.  
"Ughh..." Mikoto just moaned and walks near Touma.  
_(Wait, is she sleepwalking? This is not good!)_

Touma tried to stand up but before he even do that, Mikoto suddenly fell down on top of him.

"Ugh! M-Misaka!" Touma tried to shake her to wake her up but he couldn't move.  
"Umm...Gekota..." Mikoto muttered as she hugged Touma.  
_(Uwahh! I can feel it! I can feel it! Dammit Kamijou Touma! Don't tense up!) _Touma thought as he felt what he supposed not to feel.  
"M-Misaka..." He finally succumbed to the temptation and getting nosebleed as her face came too near to him; he can even feel her breath.

* * *

**Morning of 24th August,**  
After spending the first night, which is one helluva night for Touma, he's still nose-bleeding with Mikoto slept besides him and Index still snoring.  
"Fukou da..." He muttered as he still suffered a nosebleed, but weird enough, he finally asleep after all of that at the night.  
He heard someone shouted, "Onee-sama? Where are you?"  
_(Oh crap! It's Kuroko!) _Touma feared after he knew the voice.

**At the same time,**  
"Geez, where is Onee-sama, I never knew she could wake up this early!" Kuroko said to Uiharu and Saten as the two searched for Mikoto.  
"Maybe Misaka-san wanted to go to the beach?" Uiharu said to Kuroko.  
Suddenly, they heard Index snored in the room they passed and Saten said, "This is Kamijou-san's room"  
_(Could it be that Onee-sama is with that Ape!) _Kuroko got a weird feeling and decided to open the door.

All that she saw is a horrifying scene, a scene that her Onee-sama sleeping with Touma and that Touma is nose-bleeding when she saw him next to Mikoto who is hugging him.  
"WAH!" Kuroko shouted.  
The shout woke Mikoto up and the first thing she said, "Kuroko, can you please keep quite..."

She finally noticed as she looked to a person next to her.

"Morning...Misaka-san" called the nose-bleeding Touma  
"Kamijou-san?" Mikoto still confused but after she fully realized, she immediately distance herself from him and blushed like red hot tomato.  
"W-What are you doing here!" Mikoto asked as she covered her body.  
"Well, you're the one that come into my room at night you know..." explained Touma as he sensed a great anger from Kuroko.

"YOU! YOU! PREPARE TO DIE!" as Kuroko charged towards Touma.  
"W-WAIT I CAN EXPLAIN!" Touma shouted as Kuroko choking him.  
Touma get tortured by Kuroko before she electrocuted by Mikoto, who finally stood up and pulled Kuroko from Touma.

"T-Thanks Misaka!" Touma said to Mikoto.  
"N-No, it's my fault." Mikoto said as she dragged Kuroko's body. She took a handkerchief and wipe Touma's blood from his nose.

Index woke up and saw Touma with Mikoto, "Touma, what is going on? Why are you nosebleed?"  
Saten and Uiharu laughed, "I think you need a full explanation now Kamijou-san"  
"Fukou...da..." Is the word that Touma muttered on the first day of the 24th August.

* * *

**Afternoon,**  
After the 'unfortunate incident' that morning, Touma decided to fishing at the sea with Index, but again, he's not alone...he saw Mikoto with Kuroko, Uiharu and Saten went fishing too.  
"Fukou da...At least we don't went on the same boat.." Touma said to himself while Index is looking something at the water.  
Touma noticed and asked, "Hey Index, what do you see?"  
"Touma! Touma! Look!" as she pulled out something from the sea.

Touma looked at it and shocked that she hold ... an Octopus; he noticed that the Octopus seemed very angry.  
"I-Index...please put that back into the water.." He asked as he persuaded Index to release the Octopus.  
"NO! I want this for dinner" She shouted. As soon as she said it, the Octopus somehow escape Index's grasp and landed on Touma's face.

"W-WAIT! NO!" He shouted before the Octopus stuck on his face.  
"ARGHH! LET ME GO! LET ME GO!" He shouted as he struggled to release the Octopus from his head. He walked backwards to the edge of the boat and finally splashed himself as he fell to the sea and his last words before he tripped over is, "FUKOU DA!"  
"TOUMA!" Index shouted as she saw Touma went overboard.

**At the same time,**  
Mikoto and her friends are in a different boat, saw what has happened to Touma and she with the others find it...hilarious.  
"Hahaha! Look at Kamijou-san!" as Saten could not control her laughter.  
"Ah...Saten-san?" Uiharu walked to her to calm her down.  
Mikoto ,who's saw him, chuckled at Touma's misfortune, Kuroko saw this suddenly engulfed in a furious jealousy.

_(KUH! THAT APE! HOW DARE HE TRY TO TAKE ONEE-SAMA'S HEART BY MAKING HIMSELF FUNNY?!) _as Kuroko tried to make another 'attempt' at Mikoto.  
"Onee-sama, that Kamijou-san...he's a funny guy isn't it?" She asked Mikoto.  
"Yeah, but actually, he said that this is all because of his bad luck." She said while looking at Touma's who is struggling to get back to the boat.

"Bad luck ne~ No wonder he's got no girlfriend except for that chibi nun."  
Mikoto suddenly let out a spark, "I-Index is just his friends...yeah his friends..."  
"Oh no...are you interested in that Unfortunate Guy?" Kuroko tried to tease her.  
"W-What made you to say that! O-Off c-course not! W-Well, h-he is an i-interesting guy, b-but..." Mikoto tried to deny but that made her face red.

**At Touma's boat (The same time),**  
"ACHOO!...Ugh what happened? Maybe I'm cold..." Touma said as he snooze.

**At Mikoto's boat,**  
"Ah~ So Onee-sama does have an interest over that boy" asked Kuroko while tried to hide her anger.  
"Y-yeah...b-but that not like I-I am in l-love! Yeah...Not! We are rival! Yeah! RIVAL!" Mikoto said as she flustered more.  
Kuroko couldn't hold her 'lust' and made her move, "CHANCE!"  
An arc of electricity hit Kuroko and went overboard on the water. A minute later, Kuroko emerged back with several fish 'affected' by Mikoto's power.

**At Touma's boat,**  
Touma saw what happened at Mikoto's boat and saw Kuroko with several other fish floating near her and he also saw Uiharu get her fishing net and said, "We got a lot of catch today Misaka-san"  
"W-Why they got fish that many! Fukou da..." He said as he knew that he didn't catch many fish as they are.  
"Hey Touma!" Index said to him.

"What is it?" Touma said as he looks at Index with a weak tone.  
Index hid something behind her back and said, "I have something that cheer you up!"  
"Oh what is it?" Touma asked.

Index pulled out another jellyfish, "We can have jellyfish for dinner!"  
Like last time, she slipped the jellyfish again.  
Touma didn't know if his fate is to be hated by the fish community or what; but in the end, the jellyfish landed right onto his face.  
"FUKOU DA!" Is the last word he said as his face stung once more by jellyfish.

As the fishing continued to the evening, Mikoto and her friends made a small barbecue party and to much of Kuroko's chagrin...Mikoto invited Touma and Index along.  
"I'm sorry for inviting us along Misaka." Touma bowed down and said it in an apologetic tone.  
"O-Oh, it's not a problem, besides Index here seems hungry and I have too many fish to cook." Mikoto replied as she looked at the barely standing Index who's hungry since Touma haven't caught a fish yet.

"You got a point there! Thanks for inviting us."

This made Kuroko a bit angry that she unconsciously stabbed the fish she's eating several times, causing Uiharu and Saten to be cautious of her.

* * *

After the barbecue, Mikoto and the others including Touma and Index gathered around for the night activity that Saten was actually planning for everyone.  
"So guys, what are you going to do?" Touma asked them after the meal.  
"Well, there was an old temple not far from the lodge. The old folks say when we get here, some said it's supposed to be haunted." Saten added as she began to tell them of the activity.

"What are you mean Saten-san?" Uiharu curiously asked.  
"We're going to have a bravery test tonight!" Saten said as she raised her fist.  
Everyone began to listen to her plan, truthfully, they didn't have any activity besides this.  
"Alright then to play it, must be in group of two each pair decided by this straw!" She said as she pulled out a bunch of straws.  
"Let me guess, if the end of the straws have the same color's with the other mate that hold another straw...then the pair have been decided?" Kuroko asked Saten.

Saten just nodded and in Kuroko's thought (_I have to find the straws match with Onee-sama's!)_  
The draw began, for the first pairing...it's Uiharu and surprisingly...Index, the second pairing is also surprisingly...Kuroko and...Saten.  
_(WHY! WHY I HAVE TO BE PAIRED WITH HER! NOT ONEE-SAMA!)_ she shouted herself for it.  
And the final pairing...yeah you guessed it...it's Touma and Mikoto.

"Well...this is kinda awkward..." As Touma tried to evade Kuroko's deadly glare.  
"Alright! What are you all waiting for! Come on! Let's go!" Saten said as she dragged Kuroko to the supposed haunted area.

And for three hours in the dark, each of them have passed their bravery test while Kuroko only could imagine what Mikoto and Touma actually do while the two doing their bravery test, she probably think of a scene where the girl is scared and she immediately grabbed her boyfriend arm and getting closer as the test become scarier.

And true enough, the last pair to get out from the area, Misaka Mikoto grabbed her pair, Kamijou Touma arms tightly and the boy blushed making Kuroko could not stand to see it anymore and attacked Touma, only to be paralyzed by Mikoto. And so the night ends as everyone head back into their rooms and sleep...not knowing what going happened by tomorrow.

* * *

Today is August 25, and the sky is clear.

High school student Kamijou Touma is awakened from his slumber by a phone voice.

Touma, who still half-asleep, slowly opens his eyes. The blanket that should have covered his body is crumpled at his side. The source of the voice came from the phone near his head.

His glance sideways reveals a six-tatami-mat-sized Japanese room. Worn-out tatami mats stretch out along the floor. On the ceiling is a fluorescent lamp covered with an old square covering for electric lamps. The wooden door that layered with specks of dirt has a simple lock, the type that looks like one commonly used at toilets, on it. A discolored yellow electric fan ventilates the room instead of an air conditioner. He breathes in deeply, and smells the scent of the sea.

This is not the room in his apartment, nor a place in Academy City.

This is a guestroom on the second floor of a beach lodge named Wadatsumi, located somewhere in a certain sea coast within the Kanagawa Prefecture. Touma's parents and He each have a separate room. He covered his head with a blanket as he decided to resume his sleep. His nocturnal habit from summer vacation probably hasn't left him yet. As his consciousness was about to fade into nothingness, he heard the phone voice again.

_(... Okay! Let's pick up the phone!) _as the phone's ring started annoyed him.  
"Yeah!" as Touma finally answered the phone  
"Are you awake, sir? You part just called *cough* that they would arrived soon"

"Yeah! Thanks for informed me!" answered Touma and he immediately woke up. He went outside from his room and saw the futon beside him  
_(So Index still sleeping, huh. Better not wake her up now!) _as Touma left the place  
He finally outside the lodge waiting for his family.  
_(Dad call me just now and told me to wait here ... Well~ I should get breakfast before ... Ah! Later) _thought Touma as he kept waiting and still felt sleepy

"Touma!" as a sound finally can be heard by Touma.  
Touma saw a middle-aged man came to his direction. Considering how the man looked like, it most likely his father.  
Let's keep this is clear. Due the event that happened on 28th July, Kamijou Touma lost most of his memories.  
He couldn't even remember anything before July of this year, beside some fragments of his past that sometimes appeared.  
That made him felt quite awkward, since this is technically his first meeting with his father after losing his memories.

_(I guess he is my father!)_

Kamijou Touya, father of Kamijou Touma. Age is somewhere around thirty. This middle-aged man, with a beard in the form of stubble, somewhat resembled Touma. His occupation is in the exporting business and has him leave the country thrice every month. His appearance is probably influenced by his job, as he looks intrepid yet somewhat intellectual.

"It been a long time, dad!" greeted Touma as he tried to see his father better.  
"You look good. Anything different?" asked Touya  
"Uh... Ah! Like usual- How about you, dad?" asked Touma as he realized his father tried to take something from his pocket

Touya showed something like a souvenir. "I get this when I during my business trip to India, a souvenir which make like a local deity there called Ganesha."  
"… Thanks" (_But this thing won't help me with my luck at all)_  
"You looked quite depress, anything happened?" asked Touya  
"N-Nothing! I'm fine" replied Touma immediately as he put the souvenir to his pocket

Touma noticed his father's luggage and offered him somehelp "Ah! Let me get your bag!"  
"Just bring your mom's and Otohime-chan's . I'm still strong enough to bring this myself" replied Touya  
"Okay! Anyway, why are you guys late?"  
"Oh! It seems your guardian (Komoe-Sensei) not tell you yet, huh?"

Hearing that, Touma decided to asked "What is it?"  
"We're suppose to get here last night. You know, we just moved so we don't know where things are."  
Touma recalled his conversation with her mother through telephone line "Oh! You mean to the new house! Yeah! We already talked about that last month"

_(So with this ... I will never see that old house where I live as a kid ... Oh Well~)_

An energetic call of a girl reached Touma's ear. "Onii-Chan!"

"Ah she is here!"  
_(My cousin is coming with them, right? How she looked like?)_  
Kamijou Touma shocked after he confirmed the identity of the voice clearly

_(Otohime ... wait a second ! SHE!)_

He found the culprit to be **Misaka Mikoto**.  
"W-WHA? WHAT? WHAT THE HELL!"

"Onii-Chan!"  
The girl, wearing a red camisole, landed cutely to his chest, and Touma can see her face ... this expression ... this doesn't suit the Misaka Mikoto that he knew.  
"What are –" He wanted to say, 'What are you doing here?' but his voice don't want to come out. Anyway, his drowsiness disappeared instantly.

Misaka Mikoto: an ace student of the prestigious Tokiwadai Middle School. She is one of the seven existing Level 5 psychic users in the city. Although capable of discharging high-voltage electricity- and with a cranky temperament to boot- she is also a crybaby. During a certain incident, Mikoto owed Touma a debt, and every time he tried to bring that topic up, she would peremptorily assaulted Kamijou with sparks.

And of course, she is neither Kamijou Touma's genuine younger sister nor stepsister.  
_(And she supposed to be inside lodge right now! What is this? A Prank?!) _as Touma looked at the lodge  
Due to his inability to comprehend the situation, Touma asked Mikoto,  
"What? Ehh! How come! What are doing doing by using that cloth?" asked Touma, who blushed now, as he can see clearly 'two mountains' from a certain angle

"Haahhh! What are you talking about? Is me hanging around you really that weird?"  
"Can you stop this disgusting act of fawning? It's been giving me goosebumps for a while now! You're not supposed to be a sister character... You're a **tsundere … TSUNDERE **for God sake! You should just stick to your proper character." He didn't realize that he knew the real Mikoto's type of character.

"I don't understand what you're talking about."

Touma felt more goosebumps at Mikoto's apparent nonchalance. After a moment of being dumbstruck, Touma's brain began to fire up.

Hypothesis 1: The authorities ordered Mikoto to pull Kamijou's leg with this canned joke.  
Hypothesis 2: Mikoto decided to play the sister role (stepsister setting: on) upon Touma as an act of repayment.  
Hypothesis 3: One of Misaka's clones for some reason or other has a glitch.  
Hypothesis 4: He is dreaming right now.  
Hypothesis 5: Mikoto wanted to prank Touma

_(I'm sure it's 1 or 5; there's no way it's 3 and especially 4. I know Misaka's clones are sister characters. If that's the reason, that would be nice- no, there's no way I'd have a fantastic flag like that. But what if... what if it's 3?)__  
__(... It could be good ... to have her ...Ohhh.) _He suddenly blushed.  
_(WAIT A SECOND! WHAT I'M THINKING! YOU'RE A GENTLEMAN, KAMIJOU TOUMA! DON'T THINK ANYTHING PASS 18+!)_

Touma returned to reality after a few seconds of reverie. Shaking off the fantasy that summer has showed him, he shouted, "Idiot! Don't make fun of a high school student! Do you think a middle schooler like you can bewitch me using that technique!" as Touma stand up and hold her shoulder He suddenly pulled it back

"Oniichan, you've been hyper ever since this morning."  
"Ahahaha! Touma! Your energy seems come back after see her, huh?"

The two responses from his father and Mikoto made Touma and he brought Misaka Mikoto immediately to the lodge  
"O-Oi Touma! What about Otohime's ..."  
"Just bring her things yourself!" shouted Touma angrily as he tried to punish his dad. (_You think you can prank with your own son! There is a limit you know!)_

* * *

**Inside the lodge,**

Touma finally managed to bring 'his cousin' to a certain room. Touma started preaching her there.

"Dammit, stop lumping me into the happy-to-be-called-Oniichan category! First of all, why are you calling me Oniichan! And is that coming from a true incest setting or a false one! Goddammit, I can see where it's going! It's probably the latter, right? With a plot twist revealing that they were actually blood-related in the end stopping the possibility of the route! I'm pretty sure it is!"

"Haah, I wonder what language you're speaking in? That double dutch? Anyway, who cares about whatever I call you? I'm calling you Onii-chan because you're my Oniichan." answered Mikoto  
"No, I'm not! Why are you my younger sister!"

"Hmm?" Mikoto poked her cheek with her own index finger as a sign of puzzling countenance. "Do me being your younger sister necessarily require a reason?"

"C'mon, now. If you have that much energy, then get up. Afterward, let's go to the dining room for breakfast." Mikoto said it nonchalantly and kept hugging Touma.  
_(What's happening here?) _Kamijou Touma muttered while gazing at the exit of the room.  
_(...Ummm. In the end, what was that all about? Right! She tried to joke with him ... Okay! I gonna play for a while!)__  
_Little did he know, a big trouble came fast and would affect Touma for the rest of his life...

"Ah Touma! You finally here! How could you done that and make me bring all luggage" scolded Touya.  
"Ah! I will take care about the rest later ... here your key, dad!" as Touma came closer to him. Suddenly, Touma's face lighted up in astonishment.  
"What's the problem, Touma?"

Kamijou Touma's father, Kamijou Touya was knitting his eyebrows. But let us put that Kamijou Touya aside first...  
Touma casted his glance to the source of the anomaly, who was standing beside Touya. "Index, what's with that appearance?"

Yes, the girl standing beside Touya is a silver-haired foreign girl with green eyes.

If you asked Touma to describe Index, he would just simply say, "She's a girl in sister dress." However, Index wasn't wearing her usual outfit today. Even though it is hot, she is wearing this flimsy half-sleeved one-piece dress that stretches down to her ankles. Draped around her shoulder is a cardigan, and on her head is a big white hat. Let's be frank: she didn't look like a healthy girl at all. He is about to ask her which sickly character she is or which country she is from when he suddenly remembered vaguely that his mother, Kamijou Shiina, had the same kind of attire.

Shiina's hobby is paragliding. At one time in a park near their old house where a public exhibition was held, she had sat on a swing-shaped parachute with a motor engine on her back that ran the propeller. There was a report at that time stating that local people had witnessed the sight of a flying wife in the sky.

"Where did you get hold of that dress?"  
Touya, confounded at Kamjou's odd question, asks instead, "Touma. Is there a problem with your mom's dress?"

Kamijou's eyes Touya with a 'What!' expression.  
Touya turned his face to the girl beside him, and confirmed, "Yeah, it's your mom."  
Kamijou returned his gaze to the girl. No matter how you look at it, she has an appearance of an air-headed foreign girl of fourteen years or less.  
"Eh? Wait, father, don't tell me you see this girl is...my MOTHER!"

"Is there anyone you're seeing besides that?" asked Touya back.  
"Wait, just wait a minute! I'm having a hard time comprehending this joke- if it really is a joke. If you're intending to continue performing this joke up until the end, I have no idea how to respond... Biri-Biri already make me trouble here!"  
"Touma, tell me which part of your mom has a problem."  
"Everything! Firstly, her appearance doesn't even look like that of a mother at all!"

Kamijou pinched the cloth that the fourteen-year-old girl is wearing.  
"My, my, Touma-san, are you saying you don't like my sense of fashion?"  
"Stop that, Touma, you're making Mom sad with that!" scolded Touya as he worried about his son

Touma immediately replied "No! I mean, no matter how you look at it, she's younger than me! Even if this is a theatrical play intended for elementary students, she can't even pass as a high school girl that already a mother!"  
"My, my, Touma-san, are you saying I appear younger than my age?" as Index started blushing  
"Stop that, Touma, you're making Mom happy with that." as Touya started jealous

"Aahh, geez!" Touma cried while burying his face between his palms. The last time he had seen Shiina was a month ago in a hospital, after he had been hospitalized for a head injury. At first, he had doubted her. Especially the fact that Touma awared that his mother looked like an elder sister in her twenties.  
But no matter how young his mother looked, Kamijou would not be convinced that his mother was a fourteen-year-old girl.

"Can anything get more worse that this?"

And Yeah! It can...

"Ah! Kamijou-san!" as a girl came to his way  
"Who are you? What are you doing here? Are you my cousin that tried to play part as one of my acquaintances? Is this part of joke too?" asked Touma to black short hair girl, who most likely his cousin.

"? I'm Misaka Mikoto! Idiot!"  
_(W-What happened with that personality ... Isn't Otohime supposed to be the cheerful girl? Rather! Is she in rebellious age?)_  
"What you mean Onii-Chan! I'm right here! Umh~ By the way, who are you?" asked Mikoto behind Touma  
"Yeah Touma? Who is this? Your girlfriend?" asked Index

_(THESE GUYS! HOW MUCH THEY WANTED TO JOKE WITH ME!)_  
"NO!NO!NO! My name is Misaka Mikoto and I happened to be your son's friend, sir and miss? ... and Kamijou-san? Who is this two?" asked Otohime  
Suddenly everyone become silence after Touma started laughing weakly ... weak but full of dark tone.

Suddenly, Touma shouted at the top of his lungs, decrying on their cruel trickery.  
"THAT'S IT! I ALREADY HAVE ENOUGH!" as Touma suddenly shouted and made anyone there surprised, including his dad and 'mom'  
"W-What happened?"  
"Ma~Ma~ Are you okay Touma?"

"WHAT HAPPENED? YOU GUYS! ARE YOU THINKING THAT I CAN PLAY WITH THAT JOKE OF YOURS!"

Touya's collar immediately grabbed by Touma, "W-What joke?"  
Touma kept shouting and showed scary expression, "WHERE THE 'YOU GET PRANKED' SIGN! PLAYING WITH HEART OF YOUNG MAN LIKE THIS! JUST WHAT MY FAULT TO YOU GUYS!"  
"Hey! Do we look like we're joking to you?" Otohime whom declared herself as Misaka Mikoto scolded at him.  
Suddenly several people come there ... People that Touma's know very … **VERY WELL**

W-What? S-Stiyl? A-Accelerator? Touma looked at them with scared eyes  
"W-What happened here?" Stiyl Magnus ... who wearing a T-shirt coupled with half pants and has a towel hanging on his neck.  
W-What the heck happened to Stiyl! Touma shocked as he saw a guy whom nearly killed him before said in such an old man manners.

"What happened here Onee-Sama?"  
(_WHAT THE FUCK! H-H-HIM! WHAT IS GOING ON!) _Touma thought as he saw someone looks like...no exactly like Accelerator talking to Otohime.  
"Ah! It's Okay! It seems he get some summer fever that make his head gone wrong" explained Touya to everyone  
Kamijou's head finally reached maximum confusion.

The Stiyl Magnus that he knew is a red-haired Englishman two meters in height who can manipulate fire at his will to scorch his enemy to death without any compunction. Despite his look, he actually 14 years old.

The Accelerator, he know is 1# Academy City, who probably will smashed him right away if they meet once more ... after a certain accident that caused him ended here.

But the magician that he used to know, bring a kitchen knife, said this instead. "Then I will continue my cooking... so I can't serve food to the customers if I here. Hey, Maou! Come over here and serve our guest breakfast from whatever food that's available!"  
While Accelerator was assaulting Otohime , and **KNOCKED DOWN **by Otohime easily  
Two girls suddenly came out and one of them said, "Morning guys, what is going on here?"

"Ruiko-san! Kazari-san!"

The long black hair girl replied back, "What are you saying Kamijou-san, I'm Uiharu and this is Saten-san."

_(What on earth is going on! What's happening? What's going on around here? Is this a dream? It's too real as dream.)_

Kamijou finally realized something was amiss. He looked at Accelerator and Stiyl. Those war freaks and pro-in-atrocity would never participate in this cheesy prank. Kamijou's mind temporarily froze upon witnessing the shocking phenomenon before his eyes, but came back to himself when he heard footsteps approaching from behind.

"Dad! You shouldn't say that in front of customers!" as someone called Stiyl  
_(Who is it this time?) _Kamijou thought. When he turned around, he saw a tanned version of Misaka Mikoto wearing dark-purple shorts and an apron standing there.  
"What? You have two roles? Ah, no, this one is Misaka Imouto."  
"Dad, this is a customer, so I should refrain from reacting, right?"

Her face twitched, trying hard to keep her smile from collapsing. That Misaka's sister, who was constantly impassive even in the face of death, is unbelievably making an expression of emotion.  
_(No way! What the hell is she wearing? That's what people call a "naked apron" style! Looking from this side... Uwahh, her tits! For a mere prank, would they normally go this far?)_

There still something continue ... someone come closer behind him. The person that appeared from the room, clad in sister suit, is a blue-haired guy with an earring pierced in one ear. A tall man with a height of 180 cm ... his own pervert friend ... Aogami. He is wearing Index's sister suit, though he appears to have not donned it forcibly. Kamijou Touma didn't know where he got the clothes, but it appeared to have the exact design in an extra large size fitting his tall body.

The tall man says with a scary cheerful voice, "Ah Touma! Finally you wake up! Let's eat"

_(A-A-Aaaaaaaah! IS THIS HELL!) _as Touma looked some horror behind him.  
Suddenly, The big man inadvertently peeked at Touma's face from below.  
"Hmm? What's wrong, Touma, suddenly looking petrified? Ah, don't tell me you're already fantasizing about my swimsu-"

The horror is completed ... his vision become glasses that broken immediately "!" He never been this afraid before and he know the horror movies that he sometimes watched in TV or Cinema is nowhere near this horror he faced.

Finally unable to withstand it, Kamijou grabbed the blue-haired man together with the door, and... *Bam!* The sound of the big man being thrown inside the room, followed by the violent slam of the body that hit the wall, reverberates through the hallway. He started choking Aogami and become crazy ... make everyone there surprised and they tried to stop already crazy Touma.

This is obviously not a prank.  
_(But if this is not a prank, then what is it? Index proclaims herself as my mom, the blue-haired pierce is Index, and even Otohime as Mikoto!)__  
_It's as if everyone, be it inside or outside, has switched places.  
_(If that's so, then what could be the explanation?)_

Kamijou Touma, who kept choking Aogami with his both hands, was trying hard to come up with a plausible scientific explanation seemed to be impossible.

* * *

All of them managed to pin the crazy person down. Touma is hold in a straight jacket with chains to prevent him from attacking anyone, especially Aogami, who is as Index … now.  
"Ne~ Mikoto-chan, what happened to Touma?" He asked Otohime.  
"I don't know" _(...I hope he's alright)_ Otohime replied as she suspected that his head is not in good condition after the fight against Accelerator a few days earlier.

* * *

**A Few Hours Later,**

After being tied up for causing trouble, Touma finally released from the straight jacket he wearing and decided to go to the beach with others when they have deemed him sane and also poses no threat.

Kamijou Touma, was sitting on the beach, looking at two particular girl in their swimming suits, Mikoto or what he thought was wearing a usual school swimsuit and he said to himself that she's not bad wearing that one while Otohime or so he thought are wearing polka dot style swimsuit, playing with Mikoto.

"Ugh...how long can I stand this? Fukou Da.."  
"Hey son, how are you now?" Touya came asking the condition of his son.  
"I'm just fine dad."

... Or that was just some seconds ago ...  
Kamijou is petrified.  
"Hoo~ What is it, Touma? You like my swimming trunks that much?"  
Kamijou totally ignored Touya, and directed his gaze to the girl beside him. He looked at Index, who was supposed to be his mother, Shiina.

_(H-hey, wait, what's with that ungodly swimsuit!)_  
Index was wearing a black bikini un-befitting her small figure.  
A bikini usually comprised string and cloth; however, in Index's case, the string is made up of a transparent nylon. Therefore, the cloth seems like it's taped to the part it's concealing when seen from afar.  
Frankly, anyone who saw it would classify that as an adult swimsuit.  
_(Kuhh... Is this what you call the realm of gap and unbalance! No, wait. This isn't the time to be glad. How did that Index, with zero pocket money, get her hands on that swimsuit?)_

Index palmed her cheek with one hand as she gazed at the face of the perplexed Kamijou.  
"My, my, Touma-san. Your face states that you have a problem with my swimsuit."  
"That's beyond the problem! Where did you get that swimsuit? It's different from what you used yesterday!"  
"My, my. I just prepared two or three different swimsuits beforehand."

"Ahahaha," laughed Touya. "Yep, Mom still has her sex appeal active. Good to know it's worth giving this to Mom as a present even though it cost me a lot to buy it. It's perfect for her"  
Kamijou's eyes gleam the instant he heard that, while Index started playing with other girls.  
"You, the one who bought that swimsuit! Is this your taste,as well?"  
Touya just nodded happily and replied "Yeah! If you go around the world for business trip you will learned that Japanese woman - What are you doing, Touma?"

Touya realized Touma grabbed his collar tightly.

Kamijou roared with a vehemence that could even spit fire from his mouth. "Shit, I knew it was weird that Mom looked younger than her age. Confess already, she's just twenty years old, right? In that case, how old was Mom when I was born! Answer me, you pedo father!"  
"Bwrghgh. C-Calm down, Touma."

Misaka Mikoto walked towards Kamijou Touma, who is one step away from making a wrong decision in life.  
"Are~ What's the fuss about, Oniichan? Ah, don't tell me there's an event revealing that you were not actually blood-related?"  
"You, too, stop that forceful inclusion of 'stepfamily setting'! By the way, what's with that attire? We're not in a school pool anymore, so why are you in a school swimsuit?"  
"Eh? Is it weird?"  
"Kuh. So you're playing the cute 'sister' character to the end, eh?"

"Oi Kamijou! Shouldn't you be more respectful to your father" asked Otohime who come there  
"SHUT UP!" replied Touma  
Kamijou, casting off his hands from Touya's neck, slumped his body like an unmotivated octopus before breathing out a sigh. Touya, coughing violently while grasping his neck, looks at his son...

"Uhh, It's my careless mistake... I didn't know Touma had this mother complex..." complained Touya

Index come there and added this line, "My my. I didn't know that the Oedipus complex, Freud-sensei's psychology theory that boys unconsciously hated their fathers, was real."  
"This is bad. The side effect of living a solitary dormitory life for years has probably caused Touma to develop a strong desire for family love." added Mikoto

"Why is everyone like this...?" Kamijou said, gnashing his teeth. "On top of making a completely amateur diagnostic, they label people as mother-cons! Everyone, line up in that corner! I'll bury all your bodies with the hole that I dug using this mini-spade!"  
"Kyaaahh!" the four happily screamed as they scamper to the sea.

Kamijou heard some crunching of sand from behind. That's right; that blue-haired pierce is also here for some reason. Kamijou froze upon remembering this. If his memory served him right, Index had worn a white one-piece swimsuit yesterday and Kuroko using some crazy suimsuit. Today, that blue-haired pierce is wearing the same sister suit that Index had worn and that albino ... using the same clothes like Kuroko

Therefore, the dress that those two would wear when at the beach would be...  
_(W-wait. That's stupid... What on earth is this answer that you'd arrive at from this syllogism-?)_

"To~uma!"  
"Onee-Sama"

_(Horrifying. Those cute manly voices are indeed too horrifying.)__  
__(Don't turn around)_, Touma said it to himself. He will probably lose a precious something after witnessing them. Yet, as if facing a terrifying reality, he slowly swivels his head around like a rusted robot.

In his view is-

Two devils, one in a one-piece swimsuit and the other one is adult bikini.

And the next thing happened is …

* * *

_(Did I do this? I wonder what I've done...)_  
Judging from the angle of the Aogami's and Accelerator's necks, they buried perpendicularly in a pit. Kamijou mulls over the issue, but he didn't consider exhuming his friends; he's sure that he would lose something precious after it. So, he decided get away from that cursed beach ... to save himself.

"What's going on with him Misaka-san?" Uiharu asked Otohime as the two saw Touma running away like a madman.  
"I don't know either, Saten-san" Otohime replied with a bit worried look on her face.  
"Touma is meanie!" Aogami added while he was buried.  
"DAMN YOU APE! HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO ME!" as Accelerator cursed Touma for burying him

* * *

On his way back to the beach lodge, he seemed saw someone he know ...  
_(Ah! He must be …) _thought Touma as he passed the person.  
But, he finally realized that person is the real one after hear his speaking pattern.  
"Unyaaa-! Kamiyan, I finally found you!"

...when a weird voice rushes in. If you ask what's weird, the origin of the cat-style-like speech is not a girl but a man.  
Another thing … there is only one person in Kamijou Touma's life who do that  
_(W-What? That voice and that talking pattern just now sound familiar. Could it be...!)_  
Touma stopped his feet and turned around. His gaze reflected the image of a big man with a height of 180 centimeters walking towards Kamijou's location.  
"T-Tsuchimikado?"

Tsuchimikado Motoharu: Kamijou's next-door neighbor, and his classmate. His long arms are distinctive- they could even reach his knees when straightened out- and he has a tall height and spiky blond hair. He is wearing aloha shirt and half pants. Black sunglasses covered his eyes. Dangling on his neck is a gold chain that matches the outfit of delinquents. Kamijou Touma knew that he didn't have one bit of delinquency in him and is just wearing it because he wants to become popular with girls. He has a stepsister named Tsuchimikado Maika, who is frequently seen in a maid outfit, that turns Tsuchimikado into a besotted and doting brother when they're together.

"Hey, wait a minute! What are you doing here outside the city? How did you leave Academy City? Is Maika with you!"  
Just after Touma asked that, he saw someone familiar beside Tsuchimikado "K-Kanzaki?"  
Kanzaki Kaori, English Puritan magician from Necessarius. Touma ever meet her once with Stiyl once in the past.  
"First! I have one thing to ask: do you see me as 'Tsuchimikado Motoharu'?" asked Tsuchimikado immediately  
Touma confused with his question and replied "Yeah?"

Tsuchimikado immediately talked with Kanzaki, "He actually see me properly as 'Tsuchimikado Motoharu'"  
"Yes! But the fact that he can properly recognized you mean ..." as Kanzaki talked with Tsuchimikado  
"Umh~ What's going on here?" asked Touma, Just after he asked it, a massive amount of water came to him like spear.

Touma and both of Tsuchimikado and Kanzaki realized it. There is almost no time; Touma can't escape from his fate. Or that what supposed to happen.

Touma immediately blocked the water with his right hand  
"Dammit! What the heck is THAT?" shouted Touma as he didn't get what happened.

The three saw a little girl with weird dress saying, "Target identified."  
If Touma tried to describe her, he probably can tell something like this: A girl with a red hood and cape (which hides her long curly blond hair) and matching pointy red shoes. Her torso and limbs are covered with leather belts, and has metal braces on her ankles, wrist and waist, the latter being used to carry her many eccentric weaponry. Under is small layer of clothing that covers her torso and her arms up to the wrist, and acts like a thigh-high socks.

"Who the heck is that! Your friend? Hey!" Touma shouted as he evaded another attack.  
Tsuchimikado grinned and replied, "Probably our friend from the Russian Orthodox Church, Annihilatus"  
"Russian? Annihilatus? Oh God! I'm confused!" replied Touma as he felt he is not a part of this reality.  
"Who are you and What are you doing here?" Kanzaki asked the girl.

"Answer no 1 : My name is Misha Croitsef, operative of Annihilatus of the Russian Orthodox Church"  
"I already guess it, nya~"  
"Answer no 2 : I'm here to hunt for those responsible for the activation of Angel Fall and that person is the most possible suspect" Misha replied while pointing her small saw at Touma.

"Me? What did I do!" Touma shouted as he confused.  
"What she means is you Kami-yan, that you're the magician who activated the Angel Fall spells" Tsuchimikado explained while fixing his sunglasses and looked at Touma, who evading another attack.

"M-Me! What are you talking about?! I'm no Magician! And how the hell do you know Magic!" Touma asked after he realized that Tsuchimikado actually knew magic.  
"Well, as Kanzaki Nee-chin here. I'm a part of the Necessarius too." He replied with a grin.  
Suddenly Misha spoke to Touma, "Time for you to gone!" as pillars of water coming forth.

"OI!OI! I'm not a Magician! And I don't know anything about magic! Kanzaki! Tsuchimikado! HELP ME!" Touma shouted as he used his Imagine Breaker and dissipated her attacks. Kanzaki let out a sigh while looking at Touma's attacker and Tsuchimikado grinned at Touma's misfortune.

* * *

After some mess or damages to several properties near there... Touma, Tsuchimikado, Kanzaki and Misha finally took a rest near beach. There Kanzaki gave some information and explanation that unable to be compress by tiny brain of Kamijou Touma. He even stopped it several times as he don't get it  
Tree of Sepiroth, Idol Theory and many other things from magic side.

One thing for sure (and the only thing that Touma can understand) ... that the weirdness that going on is caused by a spell called [Angel Fall]

What really important in Kamijou Touma's mind is ...  
"You guys should help me sooner! ESPECIALLY YOU! I ALMOST DIED BACK THEN!" shouted Touma to Tsuchimikado  
"It just fun to see your reaction,Kami-yan!"  
"NOT FOR ME!"

"Ahem!" a cough sound from Kanzaki finally stopped their child quarrel "Should I continue?"  
"Let me! If Nee-Chin the one who explains it, I bet he (Touma) won't understand through the end ... Let me explain about [Angel Fall]" replied Tsuchimikado  
He started explaining "Basically, this 'substitution in roles' phenomenon is a 'human-made event' caused by someone using magic."  
"human-made event?" asked Touma as Tsuchimikado kept continued

"The so-called Tree of Life is basically a hierarchy of identities, separating God, Angels, humans and souls into 10 levels on a pyramid; this is the basic concept."

"It's based on the picture drawn out to show that 'God reigns supreme over everything'. Well, simply put, this picture shows that 'humans can only reach here, and beyond this is God's territory, so it can't be invaded'"

"The number of humans and Angels were already decided, thus in ordinary circumstances, humans are definitely unable to promote to become Angels. In contrast, Angels are never be demoted to be humans."

"Because every single realm is already filled up."

Following off what Tsuchimikado said, Kanzaki continued, "But this spell called 'Angel Fall' is just as what the name implies, it can force an Angel that's in the Heavens to become a human. And the human realm is like a cup full of water, if a drop of 'Angel' is to fall in—what will happen to the cup of water?"

"... Umh~ overloaded?" answered Touma immediately  
"I already know it useless to explain this to him ... but this alone enough to prove that this kid isn't the culprit" answered Kanzaki as she looked at Misha.  
"Rebuttal no. 1 - This man not effected by magic" answers Misha  
"And also by your attack ... you should already know that ... Let me tell you something" replied Tsuchimikado immediately while pointing Touma's right hand "He have Imagine Breaker that can nullify any kind of illusion in this world at his right hand"

"Oh right ... so that ... WAIT A MINUTE!" as Touma remembered something important  
"You! Tsuchimikado! Who are you actually?" asked Touma as Tsuchimikado Motoharu showed his grin

Misha seemed able to understand Tsuchimikado's explanation and apologized to Touma  
But that alone not satisfied Touma until Tsuchimikado answered Touma "Aw! C'mon Kami-yan! Don't you realized? I'm also part of Necessarius ... A Spy!"  
"Wha?" as that single statement from Tsuchimikado completely froze Touma ...

* * *

Between the Lines

**A day before [Angel Fall] Event happened,****  
****24 August****  
****England**

"How could this be ?" A girl was put her hand near her chest ... no, more precisely ... her heart. But one thing for sure ... There is no wound at there at all ... But she felt pain. Pain like something sharp stabbed her heart.

"Ho~ Still Wake up!" a certain someone come closer to her  
"Shit! How could this happened" as she tried to take the wood sword near her place.  
Just when she managed to grab it, her hand stepped on by someone's foot and couldn't escape  
It felt like she was underwater the moment her hand stepped, she could hardly move her body, but she won't give up

Suddenly the wood sword covered with fire and she managed to escape the restraint. She took some steps back and aimed the sword to her opponent.  
"I just don't get it ... to think a wood sword capable to produce fire ... I bet it's not ESPer power"  
The person, who analyzed that fact, didn't look so well at all. His body battered; blood came from his forehead and obscured his vision. However, the person not even expressing any pain.  
The girl shouted to him, "I'm the one who don't get it ... who are you? Why you stop me from doing my duty!"

"My name? I'm Kuroshiro Rinnosuke ... You may call me Rinnosuke, Tenshi" as the boy introduced his name

"How you know my name?"**  
**Rinnosuke grinned and added, "It's a classified information~"  
"Humph! Those traitors must be told you, right!"

"Traitors, huh? Just because they married and those families converted into Puritan..."  
"There is more! They betrayed Roman Catholic Church by selling information to English Anglican Church!"  
_(The Roman Catholics. Isn't that The largest Christian sect in the world... ?) _"So in your eyes, they are betray RCC huh~"  
"That's what my supervisor say ... I only do my job ... I not believe it, but! They done wrong thing and they need to be punished"

Rinnosuke just looked at her and replied "I don't think you're lying, neither were they... It means your supervisor that lie to you"  
"How could you say something easily like that ... moreover! How you can just believe their words that easily?"  
"Easy? I no need reason to believe someone. I believe them, that's all. Ah! Let's get back to the business. They tell me to be careful because you are a **Saint**. I don't know what with this **Saint **... but you already meet your end!"

"Don't underestimate me!" as Tenshi suddenly dashed with amazing speed to Rinnosuke and swung her blazing wood sword to him. It almost hit him. A normal human won't able to avoid that if they didn't guess it would happen in first place. But, this person knew the girl gonna do it.  
"You still not learn, huh~" as something like a shield that surrounded Rinnosuke, protecting him from the attack, the moment the boy swung his left hand up.  
"What with those winds? You are ESPer, huh!"

"Academy City's ESPer …" replied Rinnosuke without intend to hide where he come from  
"A-Academy City? How can you be here? ... Wait a second; I heard the information before ... So it's true! Academy City and England worked together in England program to create their own ESPer"  
"England is the first in Europe's nations that started ESPer development programs after all. They need some data from Academy City to able to develop more well." explained Rinnosuke

"Anyway! I will finish you here now ... you hear me!" replied Tenshi while ignoring his explanation. She went missing again  
"You are strong, fast and totally have abnormal power for a human ... but! Haven't you learned?"

Rinnosuke suddenly behind the girl that moving at sound-speed; his left-hand open thrust to his back. An invisible attack hit Tenshi once again. The pain made her fell to ground for sure

"W-What with that **left hand**?" as she could feel something not right. She started taking some breathes. She kept standing up but her balance already gone.  
"Haven't you realize the fact? You already defeated !" as Rinnosuke swung his left fist and it landed her face.  
"Agkh?" as she flew once more to the air, she finally landed and fainted

Rinnosuke called several people, who hid there, "The job already done ... you guys! Come out and don't worry she won't hurt you"  
"T-Thank you mister ... But I beg please don't hurt her anymore!" as a young woman begged for his mercy  
"Why? She hunt and hurt you guys, right?" asked Rinnosuke as he prepared his left hand.  
"She only is being manipulated by **Inquisition**! She is innocent!"

_(Now what the hell with this 'Inquisition') _"What do you think, Minami?"

A girl ... no a cross-dressing boy (probably) came to his way and answered "Yeah! First thing, we better take her to hospital or somewhere ... you also wounded quite well"  
"Really?" asked Rinnosuke while looking at his fainted opponent and his body condition. If it's not for pain-killer pills, he couldn't fight anymore.

"St. George Cathedral then! I have an acquaintance that able to help Me." suggested the man to the group.  
_(St. George ?) _as Rinnosuke's reaction changed after the woman say that … but there also another reason. He sensed something

"Anything wrong?"

Rinnosuke shook his head, "Nothing at all ..."  
"But I surprised ... to think someone able to fight a **Saint **like that ... The world sure big, huh?"  
But, Rinnosuke didn't response the question. His body hurt a lot.  
"Minami! Teleport us now!" ordered Rinnosuke immediately.  
"I got it!" as she stood between them all and they all gone instant from that place

Not far from where Rinnosuke last seen; a group of people, posing as Anglican Priests, were observing what has happened.  
It seems Rinnosuke realized them so he asked his friend to teleport them from there.  
"This is Team 1, Inquisitor Tenshi has failed and defeated by a boy. The fugitive seemed tried to convince the guy that Tenshi is somehow manipulated by Cardinal himself." The team leader reported to his higher ups with his phone.

Another voice came through the phone, "Very well! Now that she has failed and now this will be your tasks Assassins. Do it well."  
"Yes My Lord." He closed his line off and ordered the rest of his men, "Alright, her target is ours, leave no witnesses, including the boy from before."

* * *

**_Hey everyone! I'm back again ... This time with the Angel Fall Arc_**  
**_ This is 1st part and beginning part of The Angel Fall Arc ..._**  
**_ The next part probably will take some time to be completed as I used limited preferences to do this Arc._**  
**_ So, I hope you guys can enjoy it ..._**

**_Note : If you guys asking about [Between the Lines] Please paused that question for a moment ... As It going to be one of key at the next Arc (and also part of Original Arc that I already planned)_**

**_End of word! See you later with the next part XD_**


	6. Angel Fall Arc 2

After 8pm, the real night of summer descended.

Kamijou Touma's family were gathered at the first level of the seaside resort, sitting around the round table. Even though it's Touma's family, the roles had switched. As 'Touma's friend', Kanzaki Kaori naturally blended into this crew of strange characters. Of course, to the rest, she's 'a rough red-haired foreign delinquent'.

Touma was feeling rather insecure. Since they didn't know when will 'Angel Fall' be complete, how can she be sitting down here so casually? But to Kanzaki, since the phenomenon is centered around Touma, it seems like protecting Touma is also one of her priorities. Tsuchimikado didn't join in. Right now, he should be playing inside one of the rooms here. As to others, he's 'a famous person who just got into trouble'; as a professional spy, Tsuchimikado most likely won't want to get caught up with having to handle people.

So right now, everyone who's sitting around the round table are ordinary civilians (on the surface). Everyone's hungry, but there's no sign of the shopkeeper. Turning on the television, they only saw Komoe-sensei reporting the news. Touma decided to leave them to Kanzaki and Misha, who accompany her, and went to a certain room, where his friend waiting for him.

Touma gave him some food that he brought from the dining room "Thanks for waiting, Tsuchimikado! Here! Take some food!"  
"Thanks a lot, Kami-yan! It really difficult to move now..." replied Tsuchimikado

Several hours before back to the building, Touma learned several things. Such as Kanzaki's current appearance is Stiyl and Tsuchimikado as some kind of idol.

20 hours before come here, Tsuchimikado, Kanzaki and Stiyl accompanied their leader of their organization to go to Windsor Castle. Windsor Castle has a stronghold-level defensive barrier, and its defensive capability is definitely not less than Index's 'Walking Church'. That at least what Touma know.

"Under the double protection of the 'distance' and 'barrier', we managed to escape. However, most of the magicians got hit by the poison of 'Angel Fall', there are very few people who realized this." explained Tsuchimikado  
"Oh…though I don't really understand what's going on, isn't this a silver lining in the cloud?"  
"Not just that. Nee-chin and Stiyl also our leader were okay, but I wasn't inside the deepest part at that time. If I didn't set up a barrier for myself during the 300 seconds when the outside barrier was activated, even I would be affected."

"…Eh? But you just said that you can't use magic…"

Even till now, Kamijou's still rather confused about this thing called magic.  
Several weeks ago during his job with Stiyl, Touma did witness the Espers, who were manipulated by the alchemist use magic, and their bodies exploded due to the rejection. Anyway, Espers can't use magic.

Tsuchimikado seemed to understand what Kamijou meant, he smirked slightly and said, "That's right. This is why there are some parts of me that are absolutely terrible now. I'll definitely die the next time I use magic."

A gust blew by, lifting Tsuchimikado's flowery shirt up. Touma saw that underneath the shirt—there's a large black bloody patch on him. Seemed like his body got corroding by something unknown. "Even so, I haven't completely escaped the control of 'Angel Fall'."

Tsuchimikado chuckled and added, "Besides us and you, to others, I'm 'switched' now. But some people still see us as the same person"

"Anyway~ Kami-yan! I wanna asked you something"  
"What is it?" asked Touma while looking at Tsuchimikado, who sit near him  
"Your usual favorite phrase ... if you could, please don't say it in front of Nee-Chin"

"My favorite phrase ?" Touma tried to think what he meant "Ah! the 'Fukou Da' ... right? Is it something matter with it?"  
Tsuchimikado fixed his glasses, stood up and opened the window while looking at the sky "Nee-Chin is a Saint, powerful people on the Magic Side, with less than 20 of them in the world. Their existence is also called 'Child of God', and marked with a Stigma."

Touma kept hearing Tsuchimikado's explanation. "Unlike you, Nee-Chin is blessed with extremely good luck, but she is a person who cannot tolerate her own fortune."  
"Hah?" as Touma can't understand why a person like her didn't like her luck at all.  
"Before joined Necessarius, she was a member of the Amakusa Catholics, and was determined to be 'Supreme Pontiff' of this group before she was born"

Touma suddenly interrupted him "Then, Why she left them?"

Tsuchimikado immediately replied "Kami-yan, how's the feeling when someone is 'lucky'? When there's only one winning lottery ticket and someone will always draw it, doesn't that mean that other people won't be able to ever win it?"  
Touma, who born with 'misfortune' seems able to understand it.

"She was born with the 'Supreme Pontiff' position ever since she was born, but others who wanted the position couldn't fulfill their dreams. She had the ability to success when others despaired after trying so hard. She managed to be the center of attention without doing anything, but other people at the center are forced out. Her wishes will always come true, she will always have a surprise every day, but there are people behind her who can't fulfill it, and can only choose to give up all hope. She can survive so many assassinations without any reason at all, but the weak will protect her and die in front of her. Many who admired her have died blocking bullets for her, taking the explosions, and so on."

"..."

"In the end, nee-chin couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't stand seeing the people she cared for dying because she brought 'misfortune' to them, who ended up telling her even before dying that being able to see her is my 'greatest fortune'."  
Kamijou Touma didn't know what to say.  
He let out a sigh and replied "I see. I will tried to not say my catchphrase in front of her!"  
Tsuchimikado smiled and replied "Thank you!"

After several silent moment, Touma looked at him again

"I wanna asked you, Tsuchimikado?"  
"What is it? Is it something about Nee-Chin past? or ..."  
"You say that you, Kanzaki and Stiyl survived from [Angel Fall], but where is Stiyl?"  
"Ah! He is guarding another possible [Angel Fall] caster in England"  
"Huh? There is also another one there?" asked Touma with confused face

Tsuchimikado went silent for a moment before continued "But... this guy have a little chance to do that, since he just involved and learned about magic side recently ... through a very unique way"  
Touma was wondering about what Tsuchimikado meant as 'very unique way', but he didn't care about it.  
Tsuchimikado smiled and asked Touma "Hey! Didn't you want to learn who Stiyl's current appearance?"  
Touma interested with it and he looked at him while smiling "Tell me!"

"He is now as ..."

* * *

"So you say your name is Kanzaki Kaori, huh~" asked the silver long-hair boy in front of him. He was full of bandages now. One could mistook him as mummy if they saw him. Stiyl, whose appearance now switched with Kanzaki Kaori unable to do anything reckless. "Yeah!"

"Hmm~ What a unique way of dressing. Cosplayer?"  
Stiyl fully aware how Kanzaki dressed. But, he didn't like the insult at all. While holding his anger, Stiyl looked at him and replied "No"  
"So what are you doing here?" asked the boy once more to Stiyl  
"Umh~ I just wanted to delivere message from our leader ... She said something like 'Thanks for helping us, Kuroshiro Rinnosuke. I would be more glad if you wanted to joined us'"

"Doesn't I already told her that I not interested in that kind of offer? Anyway~ Minami! Take care this lady! I wanna sleep now!" as Rinnosuke called his another friend  
_(So troublesome!) _thinks Stiyl while looking at the boy

* * *

"What? Stiyl as Kanzaki! That's now laughable!"  
"I know it! I know it!"  
The two boys laughing at Stiyl's fate ... someone interrupted them and came inside  
Kanzaki Kaori, whose appearance switched with Stiyl

"Kanzaki? What happened? You looked so tired?" asked Touma as he worried about her  
"I ... I can't take it anymore ..." replied Kanzaki  
_(So Kami-yan's family really difficult for her to handle, huh~) _thought Tsuchimikado and idea popping out from his mind  
"Nee-chin! Why don't you take rest and relived yourself at onsen?" suggested Tsuchimikado to her  
"Onsen ..." as Kanzaki looked at him

"Yeah, take your time at the onsen, you need it" Tsuchimikado suggested while hiding his grin.

"…I see... Okay then ... you! Come with me!"  
After saying it, she dragged Touma away from Tsuchimikado  
"Hold…hold on! Are you going to execute me? Is it about the joke from before or what?"

Kanzaki didn't reply. Like a corpse, Touma dragged further away.

* * *

**In front of the bathhouse.**

Arriving at a place with no one around, she released Touma before turning her eyes to the sliding shoji doors.  
"Oh yeah, the resorts has a bathhouse. It's hard for me to say it, but with all these going on nowadays, I didn't have time to bath."  
That's right, a seaside resort has a bathhouse. It's like building a simple toilet on the seaside; the purpose was to allow the visitors to wash away the seawater on their skin.

Touma turned back to look at the corridor he passed through, and asked, "However…do you really have time to bath? If 'Angel Fall's completed, wouldn't it be too late?"  
"You're right…"

The silent atmosphere covered them, before Touma asked once more.  
"Ah…anyway, why did you drag me all the way here to the bathhouse? Are you going to discuss tactics with me?"  
Kanzaki shook her head slightly.  
"No, I have a simple request; I just need you to keep watch over here. This bathhouse should be public like an onsen or a public bathhouse, right?"  
Touma remains silent.

Of course! In this little seaside resort, the bathhouse won't be sorted into men and ladies. There's only one bathhouse, and when a man entered, it'll be a man's bathhouse; when a woman entered, it'll became a ladies' bathhouse. To everyone, Kanzaki is 'Stiyl Magnus', so even when they see Kanzaki's figure through the shoji doors, the other men might think "Ah, it's a man bathing!" and will rush in, especially that resort boss.

"…Are you thinking that this may be interesting?" asked Kanzaki as she put her hand on her katana  
"Y-You're thinking too much! I don't want to risk my life with someone who's wielding a katana!" replied Touma as he turned back  
Kanzaki stared suspiciously at Touma before saying "Then I'll leave it to you". She walked into the bathhouse, shut the shoji door and took off her clothes.

One could see Kanzaki's silhouette through the shoji door, and because it's impossible to see clearly, it'll make anyone excited. Touma frantically shook his head to control his desire and turned his back around, gently whistling.

_(I wanted to see her ... BUT! I'm a gentleman! A true gentleman mustn't peak ... and mustn't act like a pervert!) _as Touma strengthen his will. "Fukou da! Ah! That word is taboo in front of Kanzaki!"  
He finally got his interruption by certain boy "Hi! Kami-yan! What are you doing here?"  
Tsuchimikado suddenly walked in pompously from the other side. Since the blue sunglasses on his face were just a disguise, he couldn't take them off even though it's nighttime.

"Oi, aren't others seeing you as some popular guy, who created quite the news recently?" asked Touma at him  
"Relax, it's alright that nobody saw me. This is how this Tsuchimikado does things." Tsuchimikado said casually.  
To Kamijou, this guy's attitude wasn't any different from usual.

"…Sorry, Kami-yan."  
"Sorry about what?"

Touma asked, only to see Tsuchimikado looking extremely serious.

"Actually, those dangers that Kami-yan went through, I knew all about them. Your and #3 fight against Stiyl and Kanzaki to protect Index, Your first mission with Stiyl to attack on the alchemist's fortress, the slaughter of 20,000 clones and so on…I knew all about them, yet I didn't help you out, so I'll like to apologize to you."

Tsuchimikado continued "Besides, 'being powerless to help' is completely different from 'being unable to help'. I'm really sorry."  
Tsuchimikado revealed a tired look, but Touma was rather casual in his response. "Don't mind about that, those are small matters."  
Tsuchimikado's rather surprised regarding Touma's attitude, but Touma didn't say anything, because he felt that there isn't any need to explain further.

No matter what, Tsuchimikado is still Tsuchimikado, this fact won't change at all.  
To Kamijou Touma, Tsuchimikado is still his dorm neighbor, best friend and classmate.

Tsuchimikado then smiled and showed his grin "Alright, enough nonsense. We'll end the depressing stuff here. Let's get down to business!"  
_(This can't be good!) _thought Touma but he was kinda interested with what Tsuchimikado planned  
"It's the most exciting summer festival activity! What a normal boy do during summer in place like this! The peeping on Kanzaki nee-chin's naked body contest!"  
Touma took several seconds to process what Tsuchimikado said before looked at him "WHAT? Wait! Are you serious?""

"Hear me first, Kami-yan! The handphones nowadays have camera functions! Technology sometimes useful in time like this!"  
"Are you even listening to me? I can't just joke around with that swordswoman! Once she finds out, We'll be slashed in half by that Amakusa-whatsoever secret move!"

"…But on the other hand, you'll peep if there's no danger, right?"

Kamijou Touma flinched after hear it ... he can't counter that question

"…Kanzaki nee-chin will definitely look great when she takes off her clothes!"  
_(Great!)_ Touma inadvertently lost his breath. He shook his head frantically (trying to forget the idea that pass his mind), and tried to warn his friend about the risk, "Bu…but…is this alright? Aren't you Kanzaki's comrade? You shouldn't betray her, right?"  
Kamijou Touma tried his best to stop Tsuchimikado, only to see Tsuchimikado's blue sunglasses flashed.

"Ha! You're too naïve! I'm the spy of the English Anglicans 'Necessarius', Tsuchimikado Motoharu! Known as the 'backstabber'! The 'rotten fool villager' is yours truly!"  
"Wah! I don't want to suffer together with this sort of person!" Kamijou continues to protest

Tsuchimikado says impatiently, "Cheh, such a boring guy. Kanzaki nee-chin nearly wanted to take your life, so it's no wonder that you're afraid of her. However, she's not really that scary! Kanzaki nee-chin's really cute!"  
"Cu…cute…? M-Maybe this not so bad ... idea ..." said Touma as his will (that not to peak Kanzaki and guard her from others) starting to shatter

(A/N : Touma ... Touma, I disappointed at you!)

"Yeah. You know, I came to Academy City after I finished middle school, and before that, I was in London all the time. At that time, I was one of the few who spoke both English and Japanese at the same time, and Kanzaki nee-chin, who just joined the Anglican Church at that time, understood only Japanese at that time. It was really interesting to see her so nervous and mime when she was questioned by the English!"

Tsuchimikado knocked on the wall slightly.

"At that time, I was the only Japanese person in Necessarius, so once she got an English letter, nee-chin would often look to me for help with a puzzled look on her face, she was so attractive at that time!"  
"…Really unbelievable, to think that you could be relied on in some instances."  
"Forget about that, let's peep! Cute nee-chin!"  
"And you're holding a camera phone, aren't you a little too much?"

"Kami-yan, you should be more honest with your lust!"

"And why are you so enthusiastic? You should be tackling those girls who're younger than you, right? Aren't you called the Siscon-Sergeant?"

"Oi, stop using that nickname! Do you have any proof!?"  
"No normal person would really love a little sister who's not blood related, right?"  
"WAH! Who…who LOVED the little sister! Who told you that!?"  
"Even if the law doesn't forbid it, you can't just do anything you want, right?"  
"Do…do…do anything? What do you mean by that?"  
"Eh? Why are you so nervous? Hold on, Tsuchimikado…don't tell me you really have feelings for your little sister…"  
"STOP IT! STOP TRAPPING ME WITH THESE WORDS! ONE MORE WORD, AND I'LL KILL YOU!"

Tsuchimikado forcefully clinched Kamijou's neck, intending to make him shut up. At that moment, the floor let out a light cracking sound, and Tsuchimikado hastily retreated through the shadows like a ninja, disappearing without a trace.

_(Ah, if we were to be seen just now, it'll make the headlines— 'Idol grabbed a boy's collar'.)_

Kamijou casually thought as he turned towards where the footsteps came from.

"Hi! Kamijou-san! What are you doing here?"  
It's actually Otohime-chan, his cousin.  
No... Otohime isn't correct. She is Misaka Mikoto, but she stuck with his cousin's appearance.

At this moment, Mikoto turned to look at the shoji screen. "…Hey, Idiot! is anyone inside?"  
"Please don't call me idiot and I stand guard."  
"Stand guard? What do you mean by that? Isn't it Stiyl inside? You two can bath together!"

It took several seconds to process what he heard and he realized something  
_(Off course! Kanzaki Kaori is Stiyl Magnus, especially in front of these people!)  
_"Get in hurry! Finish your bath so I can bath!"  
"Wait! Wait! I can die!" shouted Touma as he being pushed by the girl.  
"Huh? What you meant by you can die! You are male, he is male."

"Umh~"  
Kamijou Touma tried to make an excuse, but none passed his mind now.  
Moreover, if he tell the truth that Stiyl is Kanzaki … there probably 2 response given by Mikoto

Response no.1 : She won't believe it, still pushed Touma inside and he executed / cut into 2 by Kanzaki immediately.

Response no.2 : If she believe it, she probably will be the one who kill Touma and labeled him as 'pervert'.

None of those responses are better for Touma.  
"WAHH! Hold…hold on…really—AAAHHHH!"  
The slide door opened and Touma already locked inside after mercilessly tosses by 'real' Mikoto.

* * *

"Open it! Open it!" as Touma tried to open the door, but it seemed his misfortune still in effect.

Touma immediately felt a person behind him and looked at him. He tilted his head towards that direction and he can saw something beautiful. If she's someone who'll take quite some time to bath, maybe there wouldn't be a tragedy when Kamijou Touma got thrown into the changing room, since there's a door separating the bathroom and the changing room.

Just at this moment, Kanzaki walked out of the bathroom, completely naked as she reachesd both hands back to tie the hair that's all drenched by the bath water while holding a ribbon in her mouth. Maintaining this position, she looked like she's all frozen. Some blood stated fall down to the ground and Kamijou Touma realized he started nose-bleeding

_(C-Crap! I'm going to die!)  
_

Touma tried to make some excuse but none will accept in this kind of situation. The silence in a sealed room is one heavy pressure. If Kanzaki were to cry or rage, Kamijou will know what will come next, but she doesn't show any expression at all, not even intending to hide at all. She just reached out for the thin black katana that's leaning on the corner of the wall.

_(Glup! Yeah! I gonna die!) _

Kanzaki's eyes looked as shiny as obsidian; and Touma could guess what it meant (Any last word?)  
Touma only started bowed down and asked for Kanzaki's forgiveness.  
_(Okay! That won't worked)_ as Kanzaki's hand already hold the katana.

It already time for Touma to 'Die' The next second, the black katana swung down and screams can be heard, with Mikoto outside shocked after heard it … but she not dare to come in.

* * *

After a certain bath accident event, Kanzaki already finished changing her clothes inside the resort's onsen "Really!"  
"Are you still thinking about what happened just now?"  
"…Do you think I would?" as Kanzaki replied the anonymous answer  
She already know why speak like that, so she don't need to worry

She turned back and saw Tsuchimikado Motoharu entered the place. He actually the one who want to do the peeping, but because a certain obstacle ... Kamijou Touma become the one and almost get killed in process. He let out a sigh before continued "*Sigh* Actually, you want to, right? There's a thrill on being seen—I…"

Tsuchimikado stopped, especially after realized Kanzaki put her hand on her katana

"I was joking! Kanzaki nee-chin, as a swordswoman, can your temper not be that violent?"  
"I understand!" Kanzaki answered impatiently, Tsuchimikado still felt her anger.  
"But ..." Tsuchimikado interrupted her and continued his speech  
"Do you already forgetting your gratitude just because he accidentally saw your naked boy?"

Tsuchimikado seemed tried to make Kanzaki realized that Touma don't mean to do that  
And, she understood perfectly what Tsuchimikado tried to say after this

"Kami-yan is the saviour of Index, and we couldn't even thank him enough for what he have done"  
"I know, I understand what you're saying."

That's right, when Index was at the brink of death; the ones who saved her was Kamijou Touma and Misaka Mikoto, the the true hero of all is Kamijou Touma. Not Kanzaki Kaori, not Stiyl Magnus, not Misaka Mikoto, but Kamijou Touma.

Normally, she should be thanking him. No, using such a term would be too light.  
She should repay him with all she got.

"…But I really can't find a chance to do that."

In truth, ever since what happened during the Index incident, Kanzaki was too busy with her job. Because of that and the circumstances, she never once thanked Touma, which makes her feel guilty.  
"In the end, he actually did such a stupid thing, and it's really awkward for me to thank him now…" as Kanzaki finally left the onsen

* * *

Touma finally got out of the onsen … but he got no wounds at all. It rather questionable how he can survived after he almost get killed by someone as caliber as her. He then stopped for a moment after running away from onsen.  
"Fukou Da...What did I do to deserve this" Touma lamented his misfortune as he walked away from onsen.

But he admit, it also his own fault 'till that happened On his way back to his room, he stumbled his dad who's on the way.  
"Hey Touma...you look like hell, what happened?" Touya asked his son as he noticed his tired face.  
"Umm...just ran into an accident dad, no worries" Touma replied him while struggling to smile at him.  
"Alright, now...let's go take a walk like a dad with a son should be" Touya told his son.

**Outside the hotel,**  
"So Touma, how's life so far?" Touya asks his son as fathers usually did.  
"Well, most of it fine. Nothing that I can't handle, Dad! Even though, I always go to the usual misfortune" Touma replied to his father.  
Kamijou Touya just laughed after heard it. Kamijou Touma's face changed a little bit

_(Right... my dad's appearance might be switch with someone else too. I couldn't help it but wondered how he actually looked like.)_

"Any problem happened?" asked Touya

"Nothing…"

"Your face …"  
"Hmm?"  
"Just like your mother's. You take after your mother after all. I can see if you guys have something in your mind."

Touya smiled and suddenly asked something "Do you have any girlfriend yet Touma?"  
"Why do you ask?" Touma surprised after heard it.  
"Well~ your friend Mikoto there, she's a good girl you know. Are you sure she's not your girlfriend?" His father said about Mikoto to his son.  
Touma surprised and suddenly rejected it, "M-Misaka! N-No! Not yet! I-I MEAN! N-No" He face-palmed himself.  
Touya just laughed,"That's fine son, don't push yourself" as he patted his son's back.

The two saw Misha, who's staring alone at the moon.  
"Hey Touma, why don't you make friends with her? She seems a nice girl too." Touya whispered to his son.  
"Oi Oi! Is it alright?" Touma asked his father.  
Touya pushed him and said to him, "Now go! She's lonely there! Anyway, Good Luck!" as he showed his thumbs up and gone from there

* * *

Touma came near Misha and called her "What are you up to?"  
He had a problem as Misha's basically wearing what's similar to underwear and a coat over it. While both of them are alone, Touma even felt embarrassed to look at her.

_(This...this is too intense...damn it...I can't even smile at all...)_

No reply, Misha only looked back a little before focus back to what she saw before.  
Touma tried his joke "Eh~ Are you have a bit homesick since Russia, the land of Tsundere, is so far away?"

(A/N: It is a joke, since Tundra in Japan is Tsundora (ツンドラ)), while Tsundere(ツンデレ))

Still not response and Touma felt something stab his heart. While turned back and clenching his fist he started getting angry _(Dammit! Is this girl doesn't understand the emptiness when a joke ignored !)_

30 seconds into the silence, and Kamijou Touma is unable to take it. Touma liked to have 'a cheerful dinner table gathering'. He looked around to find something they could talk about, and then searched his pockets. He touched something hard, and pulling it out, it's chewing gum.

"You...you want some?"

Touma carefully asked, but Misha remains unmoved.

"The first question; from your question, this should be a form of food, right?"

"It can be eaten, but it can't be swallowed."

Misha suspiciously tilted her head. Touma again passed the chewing gum to Misha, who moves her hand slowly. She nudged an edge of the chewing gum with one finger, not touching Touma's hands or even fingers at all. Her movements are rather uncommon; it's like a shop attendant passing the change to the customer.

It seems like Misha never saw a chewing gum before, as she stares at the object that's wrapped in paper for quite a while before peeling it carefully. She then brings the chewing gum to her nose and sniffs it like a little animal, before sticking her tongue out and using it to lick the chewing gum gently.

_(Uu...seems like I'm not trusted at all...she's actually testing for poison...)_

Even though his face is smiling, Touma is crying deep inside. Misha finally put the chewing gum into the mouth. After taking the first chew, she stopped. Maybe the feeling of the chewing gum is something she never experienced? Misha maintained this position before her small mouth started to move again. Seems like she's rather satisfied.

"Personal preference-, hm, sweet food are good. I often say that sweets are a source of longevity, it reminds me of God's grace."

Though her expression is hidden by the bangs, her lips seem to show a smiling. At this moment, Touma finally got released from the heavy atmosphere. Seeing Misha chew this like a child, he heaved a sigh of relief. However, Misha's throat rolled with a 'glup'.

"WAH! WHY DID YOU SWALLOW IT!"

"My second question: Why are you so panicky? Is this a chewing type cigarette that can't be swallowed?"

Seeing Touma shout on reflex, Misha looked puzzled as she tilted her head. She reached her hand out with an of-course attitude, meaning 'I want another one'.

_(Is this really alright?)_

Touma wondered if he should teach her the correct way to consume chewing gum.

_(Never mind, it's something that can be put into the mouth and chewed. It shouldn't be poisonous...)_

Touma took out another piece of chewing gum and passed it to Misha, and she pinched the chewing gum as she received it.

Touma didn't know that the main component of chewing gum was synthetic rubber.

"Do You find something about Angel Fall? Or do you confirm something?"

She just shook her head and she talked about something else.

"Answer no.1 Angel Fall is incomplete."

_(Incomplete?)_ Thought Touma as realized something wrong, but it passed his mind as Misha continued

"The power of Angel is strong enough to destroy Vatican City. If Angel Fall complete, a calamity as those lore would take place"

Touma shocked after heard it "It means we must found the spell caster and stopped it right?"

Misha nodded while Touma thinking, (_World crisis?)_

* * *

After meeting Misha and talked with her, Touma finally arrived back to his hotel and meet his father.  
"So, are you going to go to your room?" Touya asked Touma.  
Remembering that Index (who is Aogami Pierce) in that room, Touma began to sweating heavily and he remembered that his father will sleep with his mom (who in appearance of Index) and feared that the two will have a 'private time'.

Thinking about it … his almost 35 year old father is now attacking a probably less than 14 year old Index. This scene can't even be described as weird; it's already a NIGHTMARE.

"I-I'll go sleep in your room, you know...like old times" Touma suggested to his father.

In reality, he wanted to stop the thing inside his mind and secure the situation … for now.  
"Ah like old times huh? Alright, it's been a long time since we last time sleep together. I bet your mother agrees!" He replied as his son follows him to their room to sleep for a night.

One can see Touya seemed disappointed for some reason, but Touma didn't care about it. In Touma's mind, the crisis seemed to be...averted...for awhile.

* * *

**At another side of world,**  
Stiyl Magnus felt so awkward to sit there while treat by Minami, whose her appearance is Leader of Anglican Church and leader of organization, Neccessarius, where Stiyl worked.  
"So what happened to the people we saved and the girl we captured?"  
Stiyl looked at her and thought a little before answer  
"They are fine. We still not do anything to them so far."  
"I see..."

Stiyl then decided to ask something "I wanted to ask you ... that boy"  
"Rinnosuke?"  
"Yeah! Is he doing something weird lately?"  
"None! Why you asked?"

With that answer, he could conclude that boy wasn't the one who caused [Angel Fall] and she didn't seem to lie at all.  
But something bothering his mind for a moment, it maybe good time to ask while 'the person' not here "Umh~ Minami, right?"  
'The girl' in front of her smiled and looked at him "Yeah! What is it?"

"Is he single-handed defeat the girl?" asked Stiyl as he wanted to confirm existence of ESPer who capable to defeat a Saint.  
Even in magic world, A Saint is capable to obliterate a country ... If science side, have something like this ... This sure can makes everyone wanted to learn it  
"Yeah! He alone ... with **his left hand**"  
_(Left hand?) _Hearing this word he remembered someone with special ability, who also the one who saved someone important to him.

Come to think of it ... There is no way ordinary ESPer capable to defeat a Saint with his ESPer ability alone.  
Just like that boy ... who erased anything supernatural with his right hand.  
Stiyl remembered these two (Rinnosuke and Minami) are from Academy City.  
Moreover, these people have connection with that boy (According to Tsuchimikado).

But one thing still bugging his mind, how that boy able to escape from Angel Fall effect ?  
Rather than asked the connection and they started asking him, he decided to leave the place and go back to his organization's Headquarter.  
On his way back he got a text from Tsuchimikado, who is in Japan.

"Please look for information about Annihilatus's member named Misha Croitsef "

_(Just what happened there?) _thought Stiyl as he kept walking

* * *

**The next day.**  
In the cooling and refreshing morning, Kamijou Shiina, who is actually Kamijou's mother but in Index's appearance now, woke up from her dreamland and sees the father and son have black rings around their eyes as they continue to stare off against each other.  
"Good morning. My my, two men continued to talk for the entire night? I'm so envious, it feels like some field trip or some sabbatical."  
Anyway, as Touma fought valiantly with the tired body for the entire night, he's too tired to be able to reply Index.

(Ha...haa. Damn it, at least I managed to hold on...it's morning now, don't worry...)  
As Touma thought of this, he got attacked by the sleep monster as he collapsed onto the futon.  
With this comfortable feeling of victory, he entered the dreamland.  
"Here, Okaa-san! Touma's already asleep, we should have a passionate kiss once in a while in the morning, right?"

"Ara ara, can't be helped. Thinking about this so early in the morning, I really don't know what you two were talking about last night."  
Touya seems to treat Index as Snow White as he hopes to give her a wake-up kiss.  
Just as the couple's lips are about to meet, Touma's eyes suddenly widen.

"A TERRIFYING TONGUE-BITING UPPERCUT!"

Before their lips meet, Touya got hit on an uppercut in the chin by Touma as his face faces upwards while like lands on the futon. Touma didn't actually use a lot of force, but the Touya was already rather tired since he couldn't sleep at all. It should be alright now, right? Feeling relieved, Touma again collapsed.

However, Touma's enemy isn't just Touya.

"ONNIIIIIIII-CHAN! THE ALARM-CLOCK-REPLACEMENT-ATTACK IS HERE!"  
Being attacked suddenly by Otohime (in Mikoto's appearance), who seems really happy, Touma felt all the weight of the body pressed down on his chest as his body cramped inwards.  
His mind instantly woke up as he felt the pain (_Uoohh...ack...ackack! Wha...what's going on?)_

"Hahahahaha!"  
She then continued "Captain! It's an imouto's basic skill to have a special wrestling move that can replace an alarm clock's functions!"  
"STOP FOOLING AROUND! ARE YOU TRYING TO ACT CUTE? I HAD ENOUGH! I'M GOING TO TIE YOU UP AND STUFF YOU INTO THE GYM STOREROOM! GAHH! IT HURTS!"

Somehow, Index (Touma's mother) looked at the door that closed once again after being entered by Mikoto (Otohime)  
Something passed her mind and she suddenly wake up "Oh my! I forget it!"  
She suddenly stand up from her bed and ran outside  
She opened the door and loud sound can be heard ... it like the door hit something hard

"What is it, mother?" asked Kamijou Touya, who just awake once more  
All of them suddenly followed Index and passed the door  
Unknown to them, the door opened and revealed a person that being strike by the door before  
"Touma~" said Index in Aogami's appearance as she fainted.

* * *

**At living room,**

"What? Aunt forget to lock the door" asked Mikoto  
"Yeah! Well~ It means I must go back to lock it" replied Index  
"Then... I will go and do that!" replied Touma as he stands up  
"Is it Okay, Touma?" asked Index as she put one of her hand to her chin

"It will take one day just to go and return, Touma" informed Touya  
"It is Okay! It would be good if you guys have some fun ..." as Touma stood up  
"You know where the new house, right?"  
"You already write the address and the picture on last latter. Off course, I don't forget!"

"Then take some breakfast first before gone Touma" added Index  
"Yeah!"

* * *

**Outside the resort, the beach**

"So that's how is it ... can one person at least guard my father and mother?" asked Touma to Mikoto and her friends, whose appearances also changed  
"Okay! I will" , replied Mikoto in Touma's cousin's appearance  
"Onee-Sama! Why you want to do that kind of thing for this Barbarian!" asked Kuroko, whose appearance switched with Accelerator  
"Just count this as a repay back ..."

Touma let out a sigh after the group left and looked his behind "They already gone"  
"Thanks a lot Kami-yan! Okay, the taxi will come here in several more minutes." confirmed Tsuchimikado  
"Yeah! So you will also follow me with Misha?" asked Touma as he looked at the girl beside Tsuchimikado  
"Question no.1, do you mind?"  
"No, off course not!" replied Touma

After learned that Touma will go back to his residence to do a certain things, Tsuchimikado and Misha called him and they will followed him together  
Kanzaki, on other hand, decided to stay here.

"So, why did you guys also want to follow me?" asked Touma  
"Kami-yan! We only need to check your house a little ... no heavy feeling right?" replied Tsuchimikado  
"Yeah! But, don't mess up my house or even make it disappeared from map" answered Touma as the taxi he ordered came

* * *

"We finally here!" as the taxi stopped in front of a certain house  
Tsuchimikado immediately opened the door and got in "What a nice house! Let's get in!"  
"Oi!" shouted Touma as he paid the taxi driver and realized Tsuchimado with Misha entered his house  
After pay the taxi driver, he got in.

He surprised, not because Tsuchimikado or Misha 's actions, but …  
His house interior filled with many charms  
"Hmm~" As Tsuchimikado looked at a red post box place holder at the entrance

_(Seems I need to check this place more), _thought Tsuchimikado as he entered the house even more

Misha herself looked around as well  
"Oi! What are you guys doing?" asked Touma as he accompanied Tsuchimikado.  
First place Tsuchimikado entered is bathroom and found a turtle toy there

_(Wait a second! Don't tell me!)_ As Tsuchimikado started running to the kitchen and found some tiger toy there  
"Oi! What the heck you doing?" shouted Touma as he was getting angry and followed Tsuchimikado to family room  
He looked around the place and noticed something

—The photo of his father.

"...Hang on." Touma muttered. Looking at where Touma's looking, the other magicians seemed to realize this.

What about Touya?  
Why wasn't Kamijou Touya switched?  
The topic they had just talked about seemed to be a distant memory.

This suspicious point started to help Touma remember the numerous suspicious points.  
The numerous suspicious points headed towards the same direction and formed a problem.  
Yeah, Touma thought... Even if they were magicians, even most of the experts of the magical world couldn't escape Angel Fall.

"Don't tell me...dad..."

Touma let out those words, which made Tsuchimikado frown.

"What are you saying? Are you telling me that the person wasn't switched and remained the same?"

Touma didn't know how to answer that question.

But on thinking through it, Tsuchimikado's question was logical. Since Angel Fall changed all the photos and records, even if they wanted to find the information of person A after it happened, they would only find the information of person B that was switched. So even if Kamijou Touya's information wasn't switched, The magicians would have thought that this was another person that got switched.

Knewing this fact, Kamijou Touma took a step back.

He couldn't believe it, he won't believe it.

"Don't tell me...dad..."

Kamijou Touma let out these words, and Tsuchimikado still continued.  
"Now! You are telling me that the person wasn't 'switched' and remained the same. You don't tell me because you think it just rare phenomena?"  
As for this question, Kamijou Touma didn't know how to answer.

At this moment, Misha, who's just come and looked at Tsuchimikado and Touma, sigh coldly.

"First answer, found the answer. Target defined."  
After saying that, she leapt out of the open adjacent window, into the yard, and vanished without a trace.  
"WAIT! MISHA!" as Touma tried to stop her but she already gone

Tsuchimikado opened his cellphone "Nee-chin! Angel Fall's suspect already confirmed! It's Kamijou Touya."  
Touma looked back and tried to stop him _(_… _Is it already too late!)  
_He must stop Tsuchimikado and saved his father … even though he is the suspect  
He must do it … but his body frozen

He looked at Tsuchimikado, but the next thing that out from Tsuchimikado surprised him "Protect him from Misha…"  
Tsuchimikado cut the phone and looked at Touma  
Touma didn't understand, so he frowned.

These people were affiliated to the English Anglicans. Up till now, their reason for working together with Touma is just to 'prevent Angel Fall from activating'. Right now, since they know that the culprit is Touma's relative, why must they should choose to help Touma?"  
Facing Touma's doubt, Tsuchimikado just grimaced, "Don't look down on us, Kami-yan. Our goal is just to prevent 'Angel Fall' from activating. Of course, it's best that we don't kill anyone, nya~"

"I actually need to tell you something important as well. Don't you think Misha is a little too weird for female name?"  
Touma don't understand what Tsuchimikado meant."Misha should be name for girl, right?"  
"Misha in Russian is name for boy … why use name for boy for a girl?"  
Remembering this, Touma started remembering something weird that Misha able to know that Angel Fall is still not complete and she doesn't want to touch his right hand directly.

But Touma started forgetting it and decided to go back. To save his father … and preach him.

"…, Okay then! I will stay here for a moment … checking another way to stop [Angel Fall]"  
Hearing Tsuchimikado's word, Touma relieved  
"Thanks a lot, Tsuchimikado!" as Touma left the house to Tsuchimikado's hand.

* * *

On the taxi ride back, Touma started thinking… how foolish is he to not realized the suspect of [Angel Fall] is his own dad.  
He then thinking about Misha. Comparing running to taking a car, there's no contest. Kamijou Touma should be faster than Misha in returning back to the resort. However, Misha may hitch a ride on the way back.  
Touma tiredly closes his eyes.

_(Why must you do this...damn dad...)_

Kamijou sighed heavily. It seems like even the sighing voice is forcing Touma to focus.

* * *

The sky is already dyed orange the moment Touma and Kanzaki returned back to the 'Wadatsumi'.  
This colour looks like fresh blood or flames to Touma, and he shuddered.  
_(Misha...she's not here yet, right?)  
_Since Touya's the culprit, someone will come to take his life.  
And it's not the fangs of the Devil, but an ally of justice.

Even so, being worried about Touya, Kamijou Touma rushed into the resort frantically. No matter whether it's good or evil, these come in as secondary. Touma was simply worried for his father. He can finally hear a sound "You finally arrived!"  
Kanzaki Kaori is standing near the entrance of the resort.  
"Dad? Where's he?" is the first word that come out from his mouth.

"He should be at the seaside … Umh~ It's my job now. You just need to stay here."  
Kanzaki said with a cautious tone, "I'll protect Touya-shi and the rest, so..."  
"I refuse." Touma immediately refused Kanzaki's orders. "I want to do with this myself. I have to deal with this myself."

"But—" Kanzaki sounded rather perplexed. This is her gentle side, as she didn't want Touma to take on his own relative.  
But this angered Kamijou. "NO BUTS! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE! KAMIJOU TOUYA IS MY FATHER! MY DAD! THE ONLY DAD IN THE WORLD THAT CAN NEVER BE REPLACED!"  
Kamijou Touma made a declaration. "That's why I want to deal with this personally. I won't let you interfere, I won't let you people hurt my dad. He's my dad- I will be the one who saved him"

* * *

After make that declaration, Kamijou Touma started walking on the beach and he finally see the man, with tired look. It like he is waiting for someone patiently.

_(Why he do that … is he going to say something important to the person he waited?)  
_

Whatever the reason, Kamijou Touma didn't care it.  
"...Dad." He finally called out at Touya

The moment Touya's tired expression turns around, it became one of relief and delight. A completely normal expression. An expression of an ordinary father who finally met the person he waiting for.

"Ah! Touma, you finally back!"

But if one see carefully, Touma's expression didn't seem happy at all  
But Kamijou Touya continued "What did you think about the new house?"

He finally realized Touma's serious expression and asked him "Hmm? What's wrong?"  
Kamijou gritted his teeth.

If possible, Touma really didn't want to force Touya into saying it out. Touma didn't want to ask Touya whether he was the culprit behind 'Angel Fall'. Kamijou just wanted to pretend that nothing happened, follow Touya back to the resort and continuing chatting away as per usual.

But he couldn't do it. The [Angel Fall] incident has to be settled.

Even if he has to go up against Touya, even if he wants to stop Touya's dream from happening, even if he will be hated by his own father, even if he can't talk to Touya like family members do, it's alright.

Touma has already decided.  
He will definitely save Kamijou Touya.

Touma doesn't know what Touya's aim is, but he doesn't want his father to enter the bloody world of magic. Touma knew what a magician is, and he knows how terrifying those people are. Touma didn't want to imagine numerous magicians, including Misha, coming to hunt Touya down.

So, this has to be settled before Misha arrives.

"...Why?" Thus, Touma spoke up.  
Touma was extremely careful not to let his voice tremble, and not to let himself cry.

Seeing Touma like this, Touya frowned.  
"Why did you lay your hands on occult, Damn dad!"  
Hearing Kamijou say this, Touya's smile froze.

"Hey- Hey- What are you saying, Touma ?"  
"Quit pretending like you don't know anything about this! I'm asking you why did you mimicking what magicians are doing!"  
Kamijou Touya suddenly silent and letting the silent atmosphere covered the entire place before talk once more

"I see … Let's see, where I should be begin… I myself felt...that it was a stupid thing to use that method to achieve my wish."  
Touya finally started to explain. "That's right, Touma. You were sent to Academy City immediately after you graduated from Kindergarten"  
Touya seemed to recall something, "Do you still remember that when we were together, what the people around us called you?"

"...?"

Kamijou frowned. Having lost his memory, he couldn't even remember anything in July of this year.

Touya was about to say something before holding it back. After pausing for a while, he said, "They called you a god of pestilence."

The father showed a devastated expression that looks as if he wanted to kill himself by biting his tongue.  
"You already know, do you know, Touma? Ever since birth, you were truly an 'unfortunate' person. That was why everyone called you that. There was a saying at where we live before 'Get away from Touma and you can get away from misfortune'. The kids who believed those rumors left you alone. Even the adults believed it."

"That wasn't just a childish prank among the kids. Even the adults call you that. No reason, no justification. It's just because you were an 'unlucky' person that people called you that." Touma couldn't help but hold his breath.

It's impossible to see the expression on Touya's face. No delight, no happiness, nothing can be seen at all.

"The people who were with you would also be 'unlucky' as well. The kids who believed in those superstitions would throw rocks on seeing you. The adults won't stop them. They wouldn't pity you when they saw you hurt, but mock you. It's as if they were prompting the kids: why don't you injure him more?"

Once, there is an event when he was hunted by a debt-riddled man and almost hacked with a chopper. The people at the media heard the news and even wanted to record some supernatural show about him. They even released photos of him without caring his privacy and depicted he like a monster.

Kamijou Touya felt so much pain just to make his son remembered those events, but he kept continued "That's why I sent you to a world where superstition doesn't exist … Not because I wasn't afraid of some 'fortune' or 'misfortune', I was worried that those people who believe that you bring 'misfortune' will attack you without you suspecting it."

"But even in that most advance world of science, you were still treated as 'a misfortune-attracting person'. From the mails you sent over, I could tell that. The only thing worth drawing comfort from is that at least the people didn't act violently against you."

Touya smiled, "But I wasn't happy. I wanted to remove all the 'misfortune from you. But no matter whether it was an ordinary method or a scientific method, they could fulfill my wish."

Even though he knew that it was a wish that couldn't be granted. Kamijou Touya wouldn't give up and he continued, "So I took the one remaining path, That's why I turned to the occult."  
Kamijou Touya remains silent. "Funny, isn't it? To use superstition to remove superstition"

"You dumbass…" as Touma finally let out his roar  
He looked at his father, he tried to say this is the most stupidest way  
"That's right, I was misfortune!"

Touma said with disdain,"Just this summer vacation alone, I almost died a few times, and I even just my entire right arm sliced off! If I have to compare it to everyone in class, I suppose only my summer was this unfortunate!"

"But did I ever say I regretted it?"

That's right, The one who saved Himegami Aisa from the 'Misawa Cram School' was Kamijou Touma. (A/N : To those who don't know please check TAMnI Season I or Light Novel Volume 2)  
That's right, The one who saved the Misaka Imoutos from the 'experiment' was Kamijou Touma.  
Also, The one who protected that radiant smile of that white nun also... Kamijou Touma

Even if he only got involved by others, even though they were just cases of 'misfortune', Touma has the right to brag about this. On the other hand, if Touma was too 'lucky' and didn't get involved in all these, just thinking of the aftermath is enough to make his break out in cold sweat.

"If I hadn't been so 'lucky' it's true that I can live longer, and I don't have to face the gates of death several times."

Kamijou Touma glared at Touya and said, "But can that be considered 'fortune'? Living a normal everyday life so casually, and yet not finding out that others are suffering, drenched in blood as they cry for help. Casually living, is this really 'fortune'? No matter what misfortunes await for me, this is my road for _me_ to walk" as he put his hand on his chest

"That's why, don't stop me!" as Touma shouted the last word loudly.

Touya looked at him with disbelieve look while asking "You… are happy?"  
As he can believe that his son is someone as strong as this … all of this time, he didn't know that his son was even stronger than everyone thought, not in body, but in heart.

"Yeah! I don't want to be that 'lucky guy'. Instead of living a carefree life and not knowing about the pain of the people around me, I rather be 'unfortunate' and get involved in the pain of those people."

Kamijou Touma's face is showing a smile. A ferocious, savage, rough and un-elegant smile.  
But it's the best and strongest smile. With such a smile, Kamijou made a declaration.

**"Don't think that I'm an 'unlucky' person. I'm the 'luckiest' person in the world!"**

Kamijou Touya finally sighed and show his 'true' smile. He then laughed as he never laugh for many years … laugh of joy  
"I'm a fool" This sentence is pointed to himself, as he mocked himself  
"I was going to take your happiness from you. *Sigh* But then, I knew that by just collecting all those souvenirs, nothing would actually change"

_(Eh? What is this? Something feels wrong…) _thought Touma as he heard his father declaration "Souvenirs?"  
"Hmm … Yeah! I will give up on souvenirs. You mother would be more happy if I bought something more useful for our house … or snacks"  
"Wait a second! Didn't you the one who trigger [Angel Fall]? Where's the ritual site? Since your aim of removing my 'misfortune' is gone, you should be able to remove [Angel Fall] right?"

However Touma's sentence and question only confused Touya even more "Angel Fall ? Which country's souvenir is that?"  
"One question. Do you know where Mother is?"  
"When you doing her request, she was with your friends. Don't you meet her immediately when you come back?"

Okay … with his Kamijou Touma felt something very weird … His father's face didn't look like he's laying. Touya really thought that Index is his wife. But this doesn't make sense. If Kamijou Touya really triggered 'Angel Fall', he shouldn't be affected.

_(Wait, think fast! What did I miss out? The situation now is too weird. Dad's explanation seems like he just bought a lot of charms for his son. He can't even tell the switch in appearance, Then [Angel Fall] do works on him)_

But there's no time to think.

"Hey Misha-chan!" as Touma's father called someone  
_(CRAP! DAMMIT!) _thought Touma after he saw the one who was going to assassin his father arrives  
His father tried to approach her but stopped by Touma "Be careful !"

An L-shaped plier almost hit Touya if Touma didn't stop his father  
"What is meaning of this?" asked Touya as he didn't understand what happened

"...Misha Croitsef!"

When did she appear? On this beach that doesn't have any hiding spots; a girl wearing red clothes and a red cloak suddenly appeared. Seeing this blond girl that has black straps and even a ring around her. Misha didn't respond to Touma's shouting at all. The girl just faced Touya silently. But, Kamijou Touma still believed that everyone can talk it out. He still believed so.

He casually walks forward, stands in front of Touya, and then says, "Please wait, Misha! Hold on, Misha. Something's not right. My dad wasn't 'switched' by anyone, but he didn't notice that the people around him got 'switched'. This means -"

Before he could finish, Touma's throat dried up. His body is trembling. From the petite body of Misha Croitsef, there seemed to be something spraying out. Touma's feet are just nailed to the floor. His stomach can feel tremendous pressure, his breathing is erratic, and his heartbeat is getting faster. There's a sense of pain deep within his brain that's like fireworks, and he stopped thinking.

Killing intend...just her killing intent is enough to paralyze Touma.

She then showed her face clearly, one can see her glowing red eyes … this totally not human's eyes … completely emotionless … unlike 'SISTER' (A/N : Misaka's clones)  
It's like she's something with human skin over it. Slowly, Misha raises the L-shaped plier as if she's holding an axe.  
Can Touma dodge it and protect Touya at the same time? Touma's body started to tremble, as his palms started to give off disgusting sweat.  
But he won't back away. Kamijou clenches his trembling right hand tight.

Suddenly, Kanzaki's growl came from somewhere. "Move aside! Kamijou Touma!"

A sound of wind being cut could be heard. An invisible slash passes between Touma and Misha, forming a wall of sand. Misha, who was holding the plier and intending to launch the attack, was instantly distracted. At this moment, Kaori charges in between Misha and Touma, and Tsuchimikado Motoharu also returns.

"It's been tough on you, Kami-yan. Good work. Since you managed to talk it out, back down, it's our job next."

Though it's unknown what Kanzaki and Tsuchimikado did, they seemed to be remaining vigil. On seeing Tsuchimikado, Touya's jaw dropped. This is to be expected. Because of 'Angel Fall', to Touya, Tsuchimikado is an idol who just made the headlines because of a scandal.

But there's no time to explain this misunderstanding to him.

"I will handle this … thing" explains Kaori "Tsuchimikado, I leave the rest to you"  
"What is going on first? And why you call Misha as thing?" shouts Touma  
"Remember that what I was saying to you before about her?" asked Tsuchimikado  
"Name, right? Is it really only problem?" asked Touma

"We asked the Russian Orthodox, and they said that there's only a Sasha Croitsef. It seems like she's Sasha before she got 'switched'." Kamijou stared at Misha. That's right. Under 'Angel Fall' influence, she should have switched with someone. But the problem is, who's this girl in Croitsef's body?"

"There are beings that can exist as male and females, Kami-yan. They have no gender. In legend, they either remain neutral or have features of both genders. To them, 'the name' is the 'reason' why God created them, so they can't exchange 'names' with others."

Hearing Tsuchimikado's words, Touma frowned, "Have you forgotten, Kami-yan? What's the name of this grand spell?"  
At this moment, Misha widens her eyes. The sunset turned into a starry sky, and the moon that should be a crescent at this time is shown as a full moon.

"Wha...what's going on?"

"Can't you tell? She turned the evening into night." Kanzaki said casually, but Touma was gobsmacked.

It's easy to say that she changed the evening sky to night, but this means that the person in front of them can control the relative positions of the Earth to the sun. No, even the orbit of the moon was switched. This means that the moon and other planets are under all control. Controlling celestial bodies.

"Hold, hold on a minute! Can magic do such scary things?"  
"For a human, of course not." With a sharp and icy look, Kanzaki's voice sounded like a blade.  
"Summoning 'night'… Oh, I see. The element of water, the controller of blue, the guardian of the Moon, the keeper of the Back."

At this moment, Touma finally remembered. 'Angel Fall'.  
Since this name is named as such, it naturally means that something descended into this world.

"-Your name is the 'Power of God', the twin-winged Archangel aligned to the left side of God, right?"

An invisible shell like thing start to crack, and the invisible skin is molting. 'That thing' completely awakened. Kanzaki's standing in front of Touma and Touya, reaching for the katana at her waist. "An Angel's power is neither good nor evil. Those who were directed by God to save mortals will be praised as Angels. Once they fall onto the corrupted earth, they will become terrifying demons."

Kanzaki said in a curse-like voice, "It's as according to what the Old Testament described. Do you really want to return back to Heaven? 'Power of God'?"

Kamijou stared dumbstruck at Misha-no, the angel 'Power of God'. Maybe her reason of preventing 'Angel Fall' is even simpler than anyone here.  
'Angel Fall' is a spell that causes an Angel to fall into the mortal world.  
An Angel that got sent down will definitely want to go back. Power of God' didn't say anything.  
There's no need to talk. She raises the L-shaped plier high as if it's a lit fuse.

The moon above them started whiter and even brighter. The bright moon created a halo around it, as if a camera lens is forced near to the sun. With the full moon at the center, the halo instantly expands outwards. The interior of the halo forms all sorts of bright lines that look like all sorts of complicated codes.

A magic array. And this thing isn't just big. Looking closer, all the bright points that form the lines are magic arrays themselves. The billions and billions of magic arrays are neatly arranged to form one huge array.

_(How can, there be...such a terrifying scene.) _As Touma looking up at the array of stars in the night, he is unable to say anything.

Looking at this Kanzaki surprised "The Sweep? Are you serious? 'Power of God'! You intend to use an Old Testament spell just to kill one person? Are you trying to destroy this world!" Kanzaki's tone and what she said are really too shocking.  
Touma inadvertently panics and asks,"What? Oi, what does that Angel intend to do...?"

"That's a torrent of fire arrows that once destroyed a civilization. If that spell activates, humanity will cease to exist."  
The seriousness of this situation far exceeds his understanding, as Touma is unable to understand what's going on.  
But the words 'fire' and 'torrent' remain etched in him.

_(Rain of fire arrows? Fall down? Don't tell me, those lights in the sky, these billions of bright spots that aren't any different from rocket fuel will land onto the surface!)_

Touma remained stiff as he looks at the night sky. The simplest thing he can think of is that the billions of brights spots are missiles aimed at the world. If all these missiles land on the Earth, this will far surpass a carpet bombing. Even if one missile is assigned to every human, there will still be many remaining. Touma wasn't clear how large the attack range is. Maybe it's a city, or maybe a country. If any place that can see the 'night sky' is part of the range, half the world will be reduced to ash.

But in order to protect Touya and humanity, Touma took a step forward. This might look courageous, but it's merely suicidal. The difference in power between a human and the 'Power of God' couldn't be closed down. It's like using martial arts to take on a nuclear missile.  
"What are you trying to do?" shouted Kanzaki to him

Touma remembered something from before The Angel don't even make any contact to Touma's right hand when he over her a gum.  
He told to Kaori about it "She not even dare to touch my right hand before… It means 'Imagine Breaker' also effective against Angel"  
It rather stupid to say that … but It probably the only hope he can give. He himself not quite sure about this bet, but he must try it.

Kanzaki immediately talked "No … this is not battlefield for human. There is one thing that I want you to do … stop Angel Fall together with Mr. Touya"  
It is the most logical and effective answer … if Angel Fall stopped the Angel won't target Touya nor using Sweep  
"I get it! How much time left" asked Touma  
"So you realized it, huh?" as Kanzaki praised him

Touma realized something even though he is amateur in magic world.  
Since it has the power of 'the Sweep', a spell that powerful enough to destroy a civilization... Why doesn't it take action quickly? To the 'Power of God', there should be no reason to hesitate, as she has only one goal.  
The question is [_Why doesn't it quickly summon 'the Sweep'?_]

There is only one answer … It's not that it's not activating it, but that it can't. It may take quite some time to activate such a large spell.

"...About 30 minutes" answered Kanzaki "Stop Angel Fall before the remaining time out"  
"Kanzaki…"  
"And you don't have to worry … I never said that I going to sacrifice my life here … Live how you saved 'her' life before I previously, I would be grateful if you could save mine this time." says Kanzaki to Touma, as she tried to erase his doubt.

Touma also understand it. Even though, it seems very cold answer but Touma can feel Kanzaki believed him  
"THEN I'LL LEAVE IT TO YOU THEN, KANZAKI! I'LL TRUST YOU THIS TIME!" Touma shouts as he grabs Touya's wrist, who still doesn't understand what's going on, and pulls him to the resort. "Oi! Hold up a minute! What's going on!" Touya shouted, but Touma ignored him.

* * *

Kanzaki focused back to the Angel, whose back let out something that looks like wings. But those aren't wings that are as elegant as a swan's, but the screen of ice wings like a peacock's.

At the same time, the sea behind 'Power of God' let out an irregular tide, and numerous huge sea serpents or sea dragons of several tons of seawater rush out and gather behind the Angel.  
Finally, a drop of water appears above the 'Power of God'. The drop of water draws a small circle, forming a halo in the air.  
The color is like the surface of the sky at night, bringing the azure blue presence with black shadows and death.

Each wing is thoroughly infused with the 'Power of God', and each attack can flatten mountains and carve valleys like Divine Judgment. Even if it's on the battlefield as per normal, Kanzaki, who often cause enemies to back away in fear, is now stiff with tension. If it were anyone else, the killing intent released can cause the person to faint.

"I really got quite a bad job now." Kanzaki said as lowered herself.  
At this moment, Kanzaki realized something, "Tsuchimikado? Where are you? Tsuchimikado?"  
He's gone. It's unknown when Tsuchimikado disappeared from the battlefield.

Facing this situation, Tsuchimikado still insisted on his philosophy of betrayal, causing Kanzaki to be dumbfounded.  
"Oh well, he's like this anyway. Even if I ignore him, he'll find a way to survive through his own way. Right now, I need to make a path to survival through my own way. While using 'Yuisen', please allow me to declare my sorcery name."

Then, Kanzaki Kaori says it out from her mouth. The other name that she carved on her body, heart, and soul.  
"-Salvare000 'Be the salvation of those who cannot be saved'."

* * *

At this moment, Tsuchimikado is standing at hill near there.

_(Damn it, things just got out of hand! I should have destroyed 'that' earlier if possible!)_

But he started fixing his glasses position.

_(But I should forget about my past mistakes! A human has to think positively! Alright, now that the bothersome Kanzaki's being held up, I can finally move out!)_

As if he's running to a new battlefield, as if he's a fly flying to a fire.

_(Fufufu! The time of betrayal I expect the most is finally here! Sorry Kami-yan! It seems like we need to sacrifice at least someone to settle this!)_

'Fallere825 (The Backstabbing Blade)' Tsuchimikado Motoharu turned back and go to the darkness as he cackles happily.

* * *

The battle between Kanzaki (Breaker of God) and -Power Of God-, but Kanzaki actually the one who pushed back a lot

Using her magic … Amakusa-shiki Christian Church's, a unique Japanese form of Christianity, she able to par to hold.  
Thanks to the religion fuse with Buddha and Shinto, anti-deity class magic exist as well.

Kanzaki kept fending off Misha by using the techniques she learned back when she was still the leader of the Amakusa, however, she is quite aware of her limitations, and keeps on the defensive, unable to attack Misha.  
But it doesn't change the fact that she the one who pushed back.

During the fight, Kaori recalls the time when she was 12 - when she became the leader of the Amakusa's.  
At that time, she didn't understand why there has to be a heaven and hell - if God is indeed omnipotent, why does he need Hell to begin with?  
Why is it necessary to choose, and let people fall to hell, if God possesses the power to save everyone?

Compared to her own life, she is one of the 'Chosen' and people around her will never be 'Chosen' due to her - many deaths (including children younger than 10), all to protect her; and saying with their final breath that it is great that Kaori is alright, and then dying with a smile on their face.  
Kaori decided to devote her powers to those who are not chosen, as the ones who ARE chosen can survive perfectly without her help.  
Once in the fight for Index, Touma asked why she didn't kill him, and the answer is that is not that she won't - but she can't.

Kaori swore to open her own path with her own Nodachi, Shichiten Shichitou ; if God will only save those he chooses then she will save everyone who is not chosen.  
She forced Touma away from this fight because there's a more than 99% chance he and another human will die - and the other less than 1% is Gabriel being destroyed.

Her only hope right now, on the brink of her Saint body collapsing under the strains of battle against a opponent beyond human power, is for Touma and Touya to stop Angel Fall.  
Looking at it from another view point, the Archangel in front of her is also a unfortunate being, pushed down onto Earth out of all the angels in heaven - therefore, it is someone that needs to be saved.  
On the brink of death, Kaori is praying like a trembling child not for herself but for the angel that's forcing her to her destruction; praying for Kamijou Touma to save that angel.

* * *

Kamijou Touma and Kamijou Touya finally reached the hotel. But The first thing they found is …

"What the meaning of this?" as Touma checking several people who fainted there.  
His mother, Mikoto, Otohime, Index and many other person whose appearance switched … all of them fainted  
"Oi! Hang in there! … Wait a second, they are sleeping? Someone used drugs on them?" as Touma checking everyone's conditions.

_(But how can this happened ? Unless …) _he then found something weird there.

He smelt something that still left there and almost fainted.

_(Don't tell me! This is CHCl__3__ (Chloroform))_

It is colorless, sweet-smelling, dense liquid is a Trihalomethane, and is considered somewhat hazardous. It usually used as an anesthetic, allowing a doctor to perform various otherwise painful procedures. Touma ever heard it from his Sensei, he even ever took it once when his friends tried to prank him before … ever since then, he usually be careful around them.

"Who would do such things?" as Touya finally let out his voice.

_(Right! There is one thing we must focus for now)_

Touma suddenly dragged his father again to a certain room with no one there.

"At least, explain this." asked his father as he took some breathe "What exactly happen here?"  
Touma turned back and looked at his father with serious expression  
"Listen, Dad! At this rate, many people will die if we don't stop [Angel Fall]. To stop that, we need to cancel [Angel Fall]"  
"At least explain what is this Ang-"

Touma suddenly shouted to his own dad "Stop pretending stupid!"  
Touma started touching Kamijou Touya, hoping to find something to cancel [Angel Fall]  
"W-What are you doing Touma!" as he started blushing

They stopped and feel someone come there and he suddenly talk "Give it up, Kami-yan."

Both of them looked at that person. In Kamijou Touya's eyes, that person appearance also switched … but not in Kamijou Touma's eyes  
"Tsuchimikado?" as Touma called his real name … at least his father already told that he is only using another person's appearance.

"Do you still don't realized the truth?"

Touma looked at him.  
"And that is reasonable" as Tsuchimikado continued "Kami-yan, you are totally amateur when it come to magic"  
That answers make Touma thought another thing and asked him "What do you mean, the truth?"  
Touma concluded something "Wait! The one who cast [Angel Fall] isn't dad, but-"

"No! The suspect indeed Kamijou Touya, but he don't realized it himself"

Kamijou Touya suddenly talked "Are you the one who make everyone sleep?"  
"Yeah! That's me … so they won't interrupting our conversation … Let me continued..."  
Touma suddenly asked "But, If Dad is really the magician who cast this … shouldn't there is something like magical energy in him to fuel the spell? I already tried to used my right hand, but none happened …"

"That's why, I called you amateur when it come to magic… Do you know magical energy from a magician is not necessary - They can use the leylines (Ki of the Land) to fuel the spell. I even found the ritual location"  
"Wait! You know where the ritual location is? At least to cast [Angel Fall], you need some big-site ritual location"  
"Yeah! I found it … Back at your home, Kami-yan."

"What?" as Touma disbelieve it, he don't find anything weird there beside charms, folk craft and occult goods

"Those things that passed your mind just not ordinary goods … It's true that each one of them individually has no purpose, but I ever told you before Kami-yan … about 'Idol Theory'?"  
'Idol Theory' that already explained by Tsuchimikado before in Touma's logic will be like this … the Sun providing solar power and human used it for electricity. The power of the 'original' is almost limitless … and it even still able to share its power to its duplicates.

"I already count it, there is about 3000 charms there … moreover, they are placed in correct locations and placed according to Feng Hsui principles… Still remembered the red post near entrance … red is attribute for South, at bath room there is turtle, guardian beast of water … in Kitchen there is Byakko, white tiger guardian of 'gold'"

"Don't tell me" as Kamijou guessed the worst one "They become one immense power!"  
"Yeah! If the leylines are like the generator, then Touya is the transformer and the ritual location is the circuit, and Touya would be charged as an accomplice for this crime. What even worst is … when you out from your house, it was activated. Well~ There is also another thing that I need to tell"

Tsuchimikado fixed his glasses while saying this "[Angel Fall] is actually one of the least destructive spells, and luckily this one which is activated … the most worst one scenario is this can easily ended up as 'Extreme Earthquake', 'Reversal of Supernatural Realms', 'Eternal Frozen Earth', or a magic not even I understands. Any one of those can erase a country or continent from the face of the planet. If we want to cancel it, we need to destroy the ritual location in one attack"

Touma cursed himself "How could it have ended up this way when his father knows nothing about magic"  
Motoharu finally replied _"There's no reason, no cause, no sense, no aim, no theory, no meaning, no value. Nothing... Kami-yan, you should understand very clearly [...] It's just misfortune …"_

"Then let's go back!" shouted Touma  
"We will never make it … There's one way to solve this easily - if someone present is willing to sacrifice himself." as he smiled  
"What?" as Touma shocked, there is only 2 ways to stop this "Destroy the ritual location or …"

Tsuchimikado Motoharu then said the last word "Kill the magician."  
As Tsuchimikado Motoharu said the last word, Touma looked at his dad.  
"Well~ it's fortunate that Nee-chin is busy right now, as otherwise she would not allow what's going to happen next. "

Touma thought Motoharu is going to kill his father, and stepped up to fight.  
"You think I would let you!" shouts Touma as he stands between his father and his friend.  
"This is the only way, Kami-yan. Or you tried to stop me from doing this?" asked Tsuchimikado

Tsuchimikado Motoharu looked and told Touya, who still had no clue what is going on "A lot of people will die in 30 minutes, and it is all your (Kamijou Touya's)fault".  
"What?" as he heard the fact  
"Don't heard him dad! I won't gave up 'till the end! I will looked for solution where everyone can come back with smile in their face."

"But, If I the cause then …"  
"I WON'T LET IT!" shouted Touma loudly  
"You are naive, Kami-yan! Well~ with this I declare you as my enemy … I would give you an applause, if you can last for thirty seconds" as Tsuchimikado looked at him

"Don't underestimate me!" shouts Touma once more as he charged to Tsuchimikado  
"I know that you ex-member of a very famous group of Skill-Out in the past, I even know that group have reputation to against high Level ESPer in one-on-one battle without power and win the battle" as Tsuchimikado realized and avoid Touma's opening punch.  
"But I have more skill due my job" as he start delivering his attack.

* * *

The fight between Kamijou Touma and Tsuchimikado Motoharu started.  
Any Touma's attacks got avoid easily, and every Tsuchimikado's attacks hit Touma's body  
In less than twenty seconds, Touma almost down … even though he already used dirty tricks to stop Tsuchimikado

"Hey, Hey, Already KO?" asked Tsuchimikado "But I admire you still able to stand in this twenty second…"  
Touma still come to him, but he unable to do anything due damage he received

"Don't hurt Touma anymore!" shouted Touya to Tsuchimikado  
"What is this? Do you think you even have more skill to defeat me?"  
"No, it isn't… But I still won't let you hurt him … You know why? I'm Kamijou Touya, Kamijou Touma's father."

Touma kept standing up but this time he hit multiple times and last strike didn't hit the vital spot at the back of his head hard enough, due to Touma stepping forward at the time.  
After another round, Touma almost had his windpipe smashed and now has no more breath left in his lungs.  
Touya finally tried to punch Tsuchimikado but out after hit by one strike from Tsuchimikado

Touma tried to stand up but he can't, damage made him physically impossible to push the body up or even breathe well.  
Tsuchimikado asked Touma for the last time, "Can you still not accept my way of doing things by sacrificing someone?"  
"No I won't!" Touma replied "I will accept no other solution apart from the one where everyone will end up smiling and alright."

Hearing Touma's answer, Tsuchimikado Motoharu smiled "As I expected from you … Kami-yan. You don't have to worry about your father … I never intend to kill him only to stop this spell"  
_(What?) _Then why he must make Touma and Touya fainted … is there something he still hide, a trump card?  
He then saw Tsuchimikado shows something, it is like a plastic tube that used to contain something

_(Papers?)_ As Touma looked at many square-shape paper pieces in that plastic tube.

"Well then, ladies and gentlemen, Behold… a magic with full of tricks and mysteries…" as he opened the tube and scattered the paper to the ground. "Today's stage is over here, let me start with the preparation"

Once all of them landed, it started shining … it make the floor itself that shining

_(Magic? This is magic, right?)_

"Let me introduced my comrade in magic bridge" as he shows 4 tube with animal-shaped and different color origami's. "Let's start the work, you fool... Suzaku... Seiryu... Genbu... Byakko..."

4 of those tubes started landed and shining brightly, 4 different colors.  
Touma then realized it … Tsuchimikado Motoharu don't want to sacrifice Touma's father live … it is his own live

"Pistol complete, Load the bullet, Put … ridiculous violent power in the bullet, Cast seal to the pistol, Cast a shikigami on the bullet"

Tsuchimikado Motoharu is an ESPer  
And Magic couldn't work well with ESPer  
There only one thing that will happened if ESPer still used magic

"Now time to put my hand to -" *Cough* sound can be heard and some blood vomited by Tsuchimikado  
"Stop it, Tsuchimikado!" as Touma tried to stop his friend  
"I can't hear that request… You already know the other way to stop [Angel Fall] … one must sacrifice his live for this"  
"STOP IT!" as he can see more blood flowing from Tsuchimikado's veins

"You really like Kanzaki … she would stop me if I'm doing this …" His body started shining and Touma's consciousness started blurring  
"Kami-yan … Let me tell you" as Tsuchimikado said his final word "I'm actually … a liar."

With that shining light engulf Tsuchimikado and Touma finally fainted Motoharu's spell is completed, and a stream of light rushes forth from the resort and into the horizon, going to direction of the ritual location – Touma's parent's house.

* * *

**Meanwhile,**

_(I can't hold her any longer)_ as Kanzaki almost down and -Power of God- still looked at her.  
But they saw a stream of light passed them  
_(What is that?)_ As Kanzaki kept looking at it, -Power of God- somehow diverted its sight to it.  
It kept going to a certain direction and somehow gone

Suddenly, the night is starting to go back to sunset and 'the Sweep' started gone  
_(What?)_ As Kanzaki looked at -Power of God- , she could heard cracking sound from its wings  
The body started shatter and a light out from it and go back to the sky  
Suddenly a beautiful sound could be heard and everything reverted to normal

Battle-weary Kanzaki falt to her knees after looked at this  
She then smiled "It seems I owe you once more, Kamijou Touma"

And that's how the day ended for Kanzaki.

* * *

Back to the resort Kamijou Touma finally awake.  
"Dad!" as he looked at him and tried to stand up.  
But he touched something... red and wet… Blood  
He looked where it comes from and he horrified after saw a lifeless body "Tsuchimikado…"

* * *

**Next day after the Angel Fall, 27 August**

Touma and the others returned to Academy City with Touma himself ended up in the hospital for the injuries he had during the incident.  
Heaven Canceler finished his check up on Touma when he woke up that morning. "Ah Touma! Good morning. How are you feeling?"  
Touma gave him a smile, "I'm fine doc."  
"Good to hear that, by tomorrow you can be released from the hospital. For now, take some rest." Heaven Canceler left his final message before leaving out from his ward.

After he left, Touma felt angry at himself after remembering what have happened to his friend, Tsuchimikado Motoharu, during the Angel Falls incident.  
"Tsuchimikado...why you have to die! What is the point if the world saves without you in it!" He muttered to himself while clenching his fist.  
Suddenly the door opened and a familiar figure wearing Hawaiian shirts and shorts with sunglasses covering his eyes came in and smiled at him.  
"Yo Kami-yan~ How are ya doing?"

Speechless, Touma stared at the person until he regained his ability to talk, "T-Tsuchimikado? Is that you! Aren't you dead? Are you a clone of his!" Many questions came out from Touma's mouth.  
Tsuchimikado laughed cheerfully, "Whoa Touma, hold up! First thing first, I'm not a clone. I'm not a person that uses that old trick."  
Touma finally realized it is him, he don't know whether he should be happy or mad.

After calming down, Tsuchimikado and Touma began discussing what actually happened that day.  
"How can you be alive? I really thought you're dead."  
Fixing his sunglasses, Tsuchimikado answered, "Well, let me tell ya a secret. Why I survive is thanks to my own weak ESPer ability, _Auto-Regeneration_. Pretty handy when using magic spells that would be fatal for an ESPer."

Touma surprised and shouted, "WHY DON'T YOU TELL ME ABOUT THAT!"  
Calmly, Tsuchimikado just said, "Well, I'm just too lazy to tell you about it...besides, if Necessarius knows that I have this ability, they won't stop asking me to perform spells...if that happens, I'll be really dead."  
Touma went quite for a long time, "Then, what will happen to my father?"

"I decided to cover all this up so that they won't hunt your father down. I just said I and Kamijou Touma have handled the problem." Tsuchimikado replied with a grin.  
Touma began to worry about Tsuchimikado, "Won't you be troubled by it?"  
Tsuchimikado's answer is simple, "I'm a 'Backstabber' it is my specialty"

Touma made a weak laugh, "So, when you told that you are a spy for Academy City, is that also a lie?"  
Tsuchimikado laughed while patting Touma's back, "Of course it was a lie! I'm a double agent for both sides."  
"Is that true?" Touma asked.  
The next answer made Touma angry, "Of course not! I was a spy for multiple organization...I'm a 'Super Spy' if you want to know."

Tsuchimikado declared it while laughing and making heroic pose.

"Oh really~ What next?" Touma said annoyingly while clenching his fists at Tsuchimikado.  
"Sorry sorry~ Anyway, I brought them to look you, nya~" Tsuchimikado said while two other people entered the room.  
"Yo Son, how are ya?" Kamijou Touya greeted him.  
"Ara ara~ Are you okay Touma?" A woman next to Touya, Kamijou Shinna, asked Touma.

"Mom...Dad.." Touma said as he saw his real parents...especially his real mother, (_Gosh, mom still beautiful as always.) _

_"_Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it! I already used to this." Touma said proudly while smiling at his parents.

His mother laughed "Are are, that's one of bad habit"  
As every part of Kamijou's family laugh, his father finally talked  
"It good you still Okay, Touma. Even though we have some problem here … but we still grateful you Okay"

"Trouble? What you meant, dad?"  
"Our new house destroyed into nothing by unknown thing, some houses around also damaged… Good thing we insurance it"  
After Touma realized it and he glared at the cause, Tsuchimikado

"You! Eh? Tsuchimikado?" as he not even found any trace of his friends  
His father suddenly talked "Until it built once more, we decided to stay a little longer at our old home … you know that old mansion we rented, the place where you born"

"Yeah! I will visit you guys sometimes!" replied Touma happily

His parents showed their best smiles.  
Their happy reunion … however interrupted after Touma felt familiar glares.

There are two of them … Touma looked where that come from and realized Mikoto and Index  
But what attracted him more is Index seems tried to avoid him.  
"What the matter, Index?" asked Touma as he confused  
"Touma choked me before"

"Huh… Ah!" Suddenly he remembered the event that happened during Angel Fall where Index become Aogami  
Touma then tried to explain the misunderstanding "I-Index! There is a reason for that!"  
"You better explain it to her, baka! She now traumatize that to what you doing… Do you like that because of your mother?" asked Mikoto as she looked at beautiful woman near Touma

It is hard to believe for Mikoto that the woman who looked young and pretty as her, is Touma's mom.

Index started crying

"Touma… Are you don't care about me anymore because your mom"  
_(This is bad! This is really bad!) _

Crying Index and Mikoto's pissed off face weren't good combination.  
"Don't tell me you have Oedipus complex" asked Mikoto  
"No I'm not!" as Touma defended himself "I do that because another thing…"

"Touma even hit my face with door when I'm looking for you!"  
"That's not me!"  
"Touma, even don't care me when I fainted"  
"Well that one is me…" Touma admitted it "Eh! Please… *Chomp* FUKOU DA!" as Touma bitten by Index

And that's how Kamijou Touma's normal life continued

* * *

**At same time, England**

"What? Academy City wants us back? Is it true, Tomoe-Sensei?" asked a long-silver hair boy to his teacher  
"Well~ It seems something to do with your development in here … which make Academy City proud enough" replied the blond hair Japanese woman  
"What an unusual thing… What you think, Minami?"  
"I wanna go home as soon as possible!" replied the girl … no, the boy who looked like a girl "Don't you also want to go back, Rinnosuke?"

The boy just silent after heard his friend's opinion  
Their teacher then gave them a letter "If you can, please give this to my older sister, Okay?"  
"Ah! That woman… sure!" as Rinnosuke took the latter

"When you will go back?" asked Rinnosuke  
"After my entire teaching job here done … about a month or two … Anyway, the plane already waited you guys at airport, better packed you things and get back"

The two boys then gave final farewell to every their teachers and friends there before go back to Academy City

"Finally… to Academy City" as Rinnosuke looked at the plane

* * *

And that's how Angel Fall Arc ended ... What do you guys think

Review please so I can see my mistake

THe next arc will be my own original arc that not exist in TAMnI ... I hope you guys can enjoy my next work :)


	7. Reunion Arc

**27 August  
Necessarius HQ, England**

A certain red hair priest and a certain Saint were having their meeting after [Angel Fall] over yesterday.

The red hair magician, Stiyl Magnus, lighted up his cigarette. While he looked old, he was 14 years old "So, you said [Angel Fall] has been prevented?"  
"Yeah! It's all thanks to Kamijou Touma." replied Kanzaki Kaori, the 17 years old Saint.  
"Humph! That kid did it again huh?"

The conversation interrupted as a priest came in "Stiyl, we've got a guest."

"Who is it now?"  
"He said he's from the Catholic Inquisition. He come here to see Arch-Bishop."

After heard that word, Kaori repeated the word once more "The Inquisition"  
'The Inquisition' is part of Roman Catholic Church, one of 3 largest Christian powers in the world.  
This organization is a magic organization under them, handling many problems behind the scene.  
From classified negotiation to elimination of certain people, who tried to destroy balance of Christianity itself.

The only reason why person from 'Inquisition' came there is To take a member of theirs that captured by English Anglican Church.  
No... saying that wouldn't be correct as the one, who captured Inquisition's member, wasn't even part of Anglican Church.  
"Let the guest in..."

Several minutes later, Stiyl and Kaori decided to meet the person at waiting room.

"Alright, tell us why are you here to see our arch-..."

Stiyl paused his sentence after saw the person  
His cigarette fell from his mouth because the shock

"Stiyl, what's hap-..."

But her words paused as she looked at same direction as Stiyl  
"So, the guest is you... Marcus."  
"It's been awhile, Stiyl... Priestess-sama." replied the man in black coat  
His body was quite muscular with a diagonal scar on his face. No one needed to doubt that he is a very skilled magician with lots of experience.

Both Stiyl and Kanzaki knew this man; this man used to be part of their organization, their ex-comrade  
Stiyl shouted in anger manner "Who.. Who's giving you permission to go back here, you traitor!"  
The man called Marcus showed his smile "Traitor? There is more treachery your arch-bishop done more than I am!"  
Stiyl was so angry that he couldn't hold it anymore, he prepared his fire sword "WHY YOU!"

Kaori stopped Stiyl "Stiyl! No. If you hurt him, we might incur the wrath of the Catholics. Alright, the Arch-Bishop is in her room, but she have a guest ."  
"Good! I don't want to see her face first… Let me met my comrade first, The saint, Tenshi."  
"Don't make any unnecessary request... Inquisitor."  
"I have the right to meet her... she's one of my own and I won't meet 'That Witch' until I meet her."

Kaori kept her calm demeanor while Stiyl gritted his teeth; she looked at Marcus and agreed his request "Alright, as you wish. Follow me."

* * *

In a 'special room', Kaori talked with the guard before Marcus permitted to come in. Any magical things must be removed to prevent anything unexpected. Marcus left his weapons, twin swords, before get into that room. Th door opened after the guard sure Marcus didn't bring any other magical things. He permitted to enter the room.

He could see a girl around 17-18 years old that kept starting at the sky. Even though the room just like usual prison but there is one thing differ it.  
Presence of sealing magic is strong here. The guard permitted Marcus to see the prisoner for one minute ... no more, no less.

Marcus called the girl "Tenshi, are you alright?"  
The girl immediately recognized the sound and looked at him "Marcus? You're here! What are you doing?"  
"Negotiating for your release. Don't worry it will be over and you will come out from this wretched place."  
She didn't doubt Marcus's statement, but something bothering her; The girl asked "Is it alright?"

The man smiled "Don't worry! I will get you out of here. I promise."  
A voice came out, interrupting their conversation  
"Alright, visiting time is over."

"I have to go now. See you, Tenshi."

"Be careful." replied Tenshi as she continued to see the sky.

After Marcus get out from the room and took his belongings, someone called him "Satisfy?"  
Marcus looked at Stiyl and passed him "I am...but are you satisfied serving under that Witch too?"  
"RRGHHH! He's get on my nerves!"  
Kaori calmed Stiyl down "Half of what he said is true, Stiyl. Remember that." She referred the time Touma saved Index  
Stiyl pulled out another cigarette, "Tch! I won't forgive her too..."

* * *

Two person was talking with each other inside the guest room of the Cathedral.  
Leader of Anglican Church, Laura Stuart, was talking with an old man, someone important.  
This man is England ESPer Institute's director.  
They were talking about important thing so no one there.

"So you wanted me to get this kid back to England" asked Laura  
"Yeah! We just learned from our test on him, and he probably can help us to even improve our country's ESPer more... The bad thing is Academy City learned it first, so he with his friend immediately went back there" replied the man  
"But why don't you the one who ask from Academy City?"  
"Well~ You know, right? Our relation with Academy City is only temporary one... since you have connection with higher-ups there, I thought to ask for your help"

"Quite weird... to think you ask our help" as Laura showed her smile  
"Not really, Laura. I know you also interested in this boy... Let's make a deal. I will share him to you, if you managed to get him."  
"What if he refused, there is high probability of it, right?"  
The old man smiled "Consider we really can't get him for now... I know you will find a way to get him. It is time for me to leave"  
"I will try it ... But, I can't promise we get him this time" stated Laura and she showed the man the exit "See you later"

Just after that old man gone, Marcus arrived  
"It's been awhile... Laura."  
"Oh my, is that you Marcus? It has been awhile too." Laura replied with a smile.  
"I will go right to the point. I'm here to negotiate for the release of Tenshi, not to go back to your fold... Arch-Bishop."

"Aww, just when I thought I can get you back~" Laura said with a pout.  
Marcus himself is getting annoyed, he didn't want to see the cause of his despair.  
But as an Inquisitor, he has to meet this kind of people and Laura is no exception.  
"Just cut the act ,Laura"  
"Fine, tell me what your leader will give in return for her release."

Marcus pulled out a letter that stated the terms for Tenshi's release.  
Laura read the terms and looked at Marcus, "And what do I get if I release her?"  
"It's all in the terms... if you agree with it... Arch-Bishop." Marcus explained to Laura and anticipating her answer.  
But to his surprise, she agreed with the terms "Alright! I agree with your terms, Marcus."

Marcus felt suspicious why Laura agreed to his leader's term. She answered the question easily and no feeling of regret or doubt about it. Knowing her, she would hide something in every action she made and he knew how cunning this Arch-Bishop is.

"We made a deal and I hope this time you hold your end of the deal, Arch-Bishop!" Marcus warned her.  
He heard her saying. "Oh! I will hold my end, Marcus-san~"  
Marcus left her and heading out back to Roma to inform his leader about the negotiation.

* * *

**28th August,**

This is the morning when a certain spiky haired boy, Kamijou Touma, checked out from the hospital. He already prepared his clothes to be brought back. A certain frog faced doctor came in to make a last check up on Touma.

"Alright Kamijou Touma, I'm making a last check up."  
"Okay doc!"

After checking Touma's condition, Doctor went out from the room.  
"Be careful out there Touma." Heaven Canceler said his last word to the patient before he got out from there.  
Touma made a weak laugh  
Knowing his luck, it won't take a long time until he met misfortune and ended there once more

* * *

"Yo Kami-yan~ Good to see ya out of there nya~" Tsuchimikado greeted Touma after he went out.  
"Thank you Tsuchimikado, who's with you?" Touma asked his friend.  
Tsuchimikado fixed his sunglasses and pointed to certain direction, "Well, this nun~"  
Touma could see Index, who's holding Sphinx, her kitten.

"Touma~! Welcome back!" Index greeted him.  
"Ah Index, so... how are you when I'm hospitalized?" He asked Index since he knew that Index lived alone during his time in the hospital.  
"Just fine! Mikoto always cook food for me when you're in the hospital." Index smiled telling how she's doing.  
Touma surprised that Index isn't angry as always, but what is more surprising is Mikoto actually the one feed her during his time in the hospital, he determined to say 'thank you' to her when he met her.

"Nya~ Kami-yan, you're lucky to have an Ojou-sama helping her nya~ I'm jealous of you Kami-yan!" Tsuchimikado teased him.

"If you want her, I will get Maika instead."  
That word made Tsuchimikado got serious, "If you ever lay your hands on her...I'll cut your hand off."  
Touma made a weak laugh and explained it was a joke, while Index still clueless what they are talking about.

A female voice called to Touma "oi, idiot Kamijou-san!"  
"Oh Misaka-san, nice to see you again."  
"Are you fine now?"

"Ah, I'm fine. Anyway, I have to say 'thank you'." Touma thanked her.  
"W-What for!" Mikoto was taken by surprise after heard him say thank you.  
"I mean for taking care of Index while I'm at the hospital. It help me a lot."  
"I-It's nothing... Index is my friend too." explained Mikoto as she looked at other way.

Suddenly, someone appeared behind Mikoto with a deadly glare.  
"What are you doing here...ONEE-SAMA." A voice in a very scary tone made Touma scarred.  
"K-Kuroko! I-I just want to see this idiot, that's all." replied Mikoto. She recognized the voice without looking at her.  
Kuroko stared at him, "The man who bury me for no reason?"

"I-It just an accident! I-I just having a stress at that time...honest!" Touma explained while thinking other excuses to save his neck from a certain 'scary' teleporter.  
Kuroko ignored him, "Onee-sama! Uiharu and Saten-san is waiting us at the Seventh Mists, we've gotta go!"  
Mikoto wanted to say something but Kuroko immediately used her ability and the two gone from everyone's sight.

"*whistle* Nya! that was something, ain't it Kami-yan~" Tsuchimikado whistled after looked at all the event.

"Fukou Da"

In the end, he headed back to his dorm with Tsuchimikado and Index.

* * *

After leaving Touma and his friends forcefully, Mikoto had some arguments with her kouhai, Kuroko.

"Onee-Sama! What do you see in that man! That worthless and annoying ape!"  
Mikoto tried to calm her kouhai down "Oi Kuroko! Don't call Kamijou-san like that! I understand that you have a problem with him."  
"A PROBLEM?! Sorry to say this, Onee-Sama! He gave me A LOT OF PROBLEMS!"

Seemed whatever Mikoto say, won't make Kuroko's view about Touma changed … so she tried to change the topic.  
"If you have so much problem, you should tell me… I probably can..."

Mikoto paused, too much consequences that she will get if she ever completed her sentence.  
"Onee-Sama! I will be glad if you…" but Kuroko couldn't complete her sentence after received shocks from Mikoto.

Kuroko's body fall down after received the shock.  
"*Sigh* I should know this from beginning already, why I still do it…"

Mikoto put her hand on her head.  
She finally dragged her fainted kouhai to the meeting place.  
Her friends however didn't seem surprised anymore after saw what happened to Kuroko.

"I see~ Another failed attempt, eh Misaka-san" Saten looked at her.  
"Yeah! So what are we going to do?" asked Mikoto.  
"We haven't thinking about it yet" replied Uiharu.

"By the way, Misaka-san… Where are you going this morning?"  
"Eh~ I just visit a friend of mine…" answered Mikoto while blushing.  
"That boyfriend of your eh~" Saten teased her.

Suddenly Mikoto blushed even more and shouted "No! I… That Idiot... I mean we just friends… Ah, right! That's all!"  
_(So cute~) _is the word that passed Uiharu's and Saten's minds after saw Mikoto's reaction.  
Saten thought about something and she found a pamphlet near there.

"Let's go to Seventh Mist! This time we will go to clothes shop there… there is quite nice discount!"  
"Ah! I even heard some new clothes that arrived today. Let's check!" suggested Uiharu  
Suddenly Kuroko awoke after she fainted for long time "Am I miss something?"

* * *

On their way to Seventh Mist, they heard a scream.  
Mikoto. the leader of the group, led the girls "A girl! Let's go Kuroko!"  
But when they almost get there, an explosion sound can be heard and some people started flying.

"Who done this?" as Kuroko tried to check the cause.  
What they see there is a man who protecting the woman, who seemed the one that asking for help.  
It means these person, who just sent flying just now, were the bad guys.  
But what interested them is the man's appearance.

He wore his modified white jacket over his shoulders as a make-shift cape and white headband on his forehead to match his overall style. But the most noticeable part of his ensemble is his Rising Sun shirt.  
"Gunha? So you the one who caused all of this?" asked Kuroko.  
"Gunha? You meant that Gunha, Shirai-san." asked Uiharu.  
The boy looked at them "Ah! It you guys Kuroko! Misaka!"

"You know him, Misaka-san? As expected from a Level 5." complimented Saten.  
Mikoto nodded "Yeah! _(Through some misunderstanding …)_"  
"I remembered when your Dorm Supervisor interrupted our fight and scare me with her full-of-guts Aura" added Gunha.

_(Ah! That scary Tokiwadai Dorm Supervisor … Hell~ Even Level 5 feared her), _thought Saten … She remembered her first meeting with her. Just from remembering that event, she felt chill to her spine. Kuroko done asking the girl, who Gunha just saved. Anti-Skill in the end come after the report.

"So what are you going to do now? Your usual patrol?" asked Kuroko after the event ended.  
"Yeah! My lack-of-guts partner decided to go home early, so I patrol alone. Where are you guys going anyway?" asked Gunha back.  
"We are going to Seventh Mist … do some shopping"  
"Damn shopping! Women always like that! Oh well~ I will follow you guys 'till that place with my guts."

* * *

Silver-long hair boy with glasses was walking while looking at the sky.  
His name is Kuroshiro Rinnosuke.  
He came back from Academy City after Academy City kicked him away for some good time.  
He looked around while thinking something; _(The blue sky, the cleaning robots are here, futuristic buildings, many windmills, most around here are students. Yeah! This is Academy City… City of students.)_

He was thinking some complicated things in his mind while sitting on bench near there.  
_(I don't get it! Why those Academy City higher-up bastards wanted me to go back, I can understand… why they tried to kick me in first place, though.)  
_He looked at his left hand (_… There is only one probability why they wanted me back … my power. But how they will able to force me to do as they wanted)_  
_(What should I do … just went back to my home like Minami did? not a chance~ I still wanna play.)_

He looked around, hoped something that can attract him… the result? NONE!  
"*Sigh* Oh! I just remembered … Tomoe-Sensei asked me to deliver it to that woman" He took out a letter from his pants.  
_(Woman… Haha… As if I can say like that to her after I saw her before. I surprised to learn 'that woman' and Tomoe-Sensei are siblings)_

"What to do next …"

He looked at mirror near there, his appearances wasn't good at all.  
_(I think fashion is something I need now.)  
_He made a smile after he got an objective to do.

* * *

Gunha, Kuroko, Mikoto, Uiharu and Saten almost arrived to Seventh Mist "We're finally here~ I better get going"  
They looked at the mall 'till they realized a big billboard from the top of a building fell down.  
"Wait a second! That billboard! It's gonna fall on top of those people! ", shouted Saten as she panicked

"Kuroko!" Mikoto shouted her kouhai  
Koruko and Gunha understood the situation and their gear is ready  
"We must act fast or many people will hurt!" shouted Gunha as he took his first step  
Kuroko followed him by using her power and brought Mikoto to that place

Kuroko and Mikoto arrived there first and Gunha followed behind them  
But, the billboard went down faster than they guessed … It's all because its weight  
Mikoto prepared her arcade coin … but she only have one  
"Don't use it! Even if you destroy it, the pieces still go to the ground!" shouted Gunha as he prepared his attack

Gunha tried to reach it , but it's too late  
Many people started running from there but some kids were crying there  
There is no time to save them. Despite the panics, someone walked casually to the place where the billboard headed.  
"Hey! Get away from there!" shouted Kuroko to that person, but he won't listen

"So stupid… Why you need to run? Kids, Stop crying already!"

The young glasses-boy talked with the children  
The billboard gonna fall and hit them, and there was crazy man standing like that!  
That man pointed his left hand to the billboard and it finally hit him.  
Kuroko and the others closed their eyes.

Suddenly… a sound like glass broken can be heard  
It felt so familiar to Mikoto, but the sound is more dark and heavy  
She looked there and found the billboard gone as if there is nothing fell there in first place.

"W-What happened!" Gunha surprised, he thought he would hear a loud sound of billboard that hit the ground.  
_(Who's that guy?)_ Mikoto thought as she looked at the young man.  
That man smiled at the children, he said something that made the children ran to their parents, who's running to get them.  
"Stay here Onee-sama and Saten. Uiharu! Gunha! Let's go." Kuroko ordered as she looked at Uiharu and Gunha. The three walked to the silver long hair man with glasses, trying to ask him a question.

* * *

The silver-hair boy didn't feel comfortable with all people, who looked at him...  
It is quite understandable as he destroyed a big billboard that could actually kill nearly everyone in that area with his left hand.  
And, he put that hand on his head now.  
_(Just what do they think I am! Some kind of freak show!)_ thought Rinnosuke as he tried to ignore them

Rinnosuke let out a sigh and decided to talk with Seventh Mist's manager about this incident  
Just as he tried to enter the store and meet the manager, some people called him  
He looked back to see Kuroko, Gunha and Uiharu  
They all used their Judgment armband and made Rinnosuke annoyed once more

_(_*Sigh* _Judgment, huh~ It only have one mean... Problem)_  
"Hold right there! It is Judgment"  
Rinnosuke looked at Uiharu with curious expression, (_what with those flowers on her head?... Are they a real thing?)_  
He looked at Gunha and surprised for a moment

"Well well~ Sogiita Gunha."  
"Wait a second! You know him, Gunha?" asked Kuroko  
"I don't remember Kuroko. Excuse me, who are you? You sure have enough guts to step and took the danger, I like your guts!"

_(_*Sigh* _Oh great! He is forgetting me already...) _"Are you totally forget about me?"

This time he removed his glasses, made everyone could see his face clearly.  
"Ah! You! How are you, Rinnosuke! I almost can't recognize you. Thanks to your long hair and glasses" shouted Gunha with loud voice  
_(Ugh...my ears hurt. Damn... his noise is too loud. My ear hurt and uncomfortable_)

Rinnosuke started the conversation "After a year being kick out from Academy City and lived in England, I grow these hair. But I can see... wrong decision "  
"Yeah! Makes you like a girl. No guts at all." replied Gunha while laughing.  
Suddenly a left-hand punch landed on his face.  
"Don't call me a girl! I'm not a girl!"

Uiharu and Kuroko surprised and fixed their glance to Rinnosuke after Gunha got punched.  
Uiharu tried to calm him down "Umh! You shouldn't do that!"  
He pointed at Gunha and shouted loudly at her "WHY I MUST DO IT! HE JUST CALLED ME A GIRL!"  
"But still, punching a Judgment officer is against the Law!"

Gunha stood up and looked at them "Sorry about that Rinnosuke! Kazari-san, let it be. Speaking of which; You grow stronger, Rinnosuke. Unlike last time."  
"Last time... Last time, we almost finished you... I think this time I can finish you myself." Rinnosuke started boosting about something to Gunha.

"Heh~ You sure have guts to say that! Do think you can do that easily like last time?" Gunha showed his smirks…  
_(Oh! I gonna make his smile gone for sure!) _"Maybe. Whatever~ What are you doing here? A patrol?"  
"Yeah! But, we have something to discuss first."

At same time, Mikoto and Saten decided to approach them.

"Onee-Sama! I already told you to wait there" warned Kuroko  
"Sorry, Kuroko! I'm kinda interested in this thing" replied Mikoto  
_(A long hair middle schooler and oh~ Interesting!) _thought Rinnosuke as he talked to Mikoto "So #3 Level 5 is here."  
Mikoto looked at him... but she seemed not care about it

Gunha talked another thing to Rinnosuke "So do you already contact with your entire friend from 'Lawless', 'leader'?"  
Kuroko looked at Rinnosuke, "Wait a second! Lawless? leader?"  
_(Great! I wished He avoid telling them who I am! But it wouldn't be a problem either, i guess)  
_Rinnosuke answered Gunha's question honestly "Touma and the others? Not yet... I arrived back with Minami today."

Mikoto looked at Rinnosuke after heard a certain name.  
"Wait, you don't mean that idiot Kamijou-san?" asked Mikoto to Rinnosuke  
"The only Kamijou Touma in Academy City." replied Rinnosuke as his expression suddenly changed.  
_(A-a-a~ __Wait a second! Another one? Damn that boy! After not see him for a year, I can see his harems are growing very well... and, why she called him an idiot? Oh... It seem he still as dense as ever)_

"So, You know him ... umh #3?" Rinnosuke wanted to talk with her, but he stopped as he don't know her name.  
Mikoto realized it and introduced himself and her friends.  
"Ah! Let me introduced myself. I'm Misaka Mikoto. Here is my friend... Kazari Uiharu, Ruiko Saten and Shirai Kuroko"

_(I can say that they know Gunha, but not quite good friends... At least that what my instinct says)  
_Rinnosuke introduced himself properly "Kuroshiro Rinnosuke. Just call me Rinnosuke!"  
Gunha looked at Misaka "I don't know you know Touma, Misaka-san"  
In fact, Rinnosuke was curious about it and he decided to ask it"I wanna heard it also"

"Ah! It just …" Mikoto don't know what excuse to tell to them  
_(Okay! I can see Misaka blushing here, I bet she going to avoid the topic)_ analyzed Rinnosuke as he looked at her reaction

"How do you know him in first place?" asked Mikoto back to Rinnosuke and Gunha  
Rinnosuke sighed after Mikoto asked him back.  
Gunha decided to tell that, but stopped by Rinnosuke and... Kuroko, who shouted so loudly  
"What? He is that barbarian's friend. Onee-Sama! You should get away from here" Kuroko pulled Mikoto away from Rinnosuke

_(Come to think of it, that girl always called Mikoto as Onee-Sama… Don't tell me! Lesbian! Really to see one here, how surprising! Oh, right! I heard Tokiwadai's girls have tendencies like that)_ thought Rinnosuke as he looked at them. Suddenly something passed his mind and he decided to ask it to Mikoto and Kuroko  
"Hey! Misaka-san and Shirai-san! Do you two know everyone in Tokiwadai?"  
"Not everyone... Tell me the name first" asked Mikoto back

"Haruna and Hibiki" as Rinnosuke told two names to them  
Everyone can see shocked face at Kuroko's and Misaka's faces. It appeared those two is quite famous there  
"Y-You mean Haruna-Senpai and Hibiki-Senpai ! You know those two?" asked Mikoto once more  
"H-How you know both of them?" asked Kuroko

Rinnosuke explained cheerfully "Haruna is my cousin, Hibiki is Touma's cousin… They are that famous in Tokiwadai huh~ I have no idea at all."  
Mikoto shouted loudly "What? Cousins? I don't know about it!"  
_(It seemed Touma never told her in first place. But knowing him, I don't think he ever tell it) _thought Rinnosuke as he secretly enjoyed their reactions.

Gunha poked Rinnosuke's face and make him annoyed "What?"  
"You meant those two actually Tokiwadai's students! I thought your group was purely Skill-Out!"  
"If you talking about 'Lawless', we consist of Level 0 to Level 3 ... Most of us already Level 3 and 4, with exception Touma, me and 'that other girl', we are considered as 'irregulars' in our group. The Level 0s."  
"I see! Let's fight! I wanna pay the last time you guys done to me with all my guts!" shouted Gunha as he make his sudden declaration.

It made everyone surprised, but not Rinnosuke.  
"Hello! Turn down your voice volume. Please! My ears hurt." complained Rinnosuke  
He acted very relaxed like someone, who highly proud his ability, "I will accept it! But, I alone already enough!"  
"Fine with me! Let's go somewhere and do it with guts!" as Gunha tried to drag him

"Wait a second I still have something to do! I wanted to tell the manager about the billboard!"  
Gunha said a very simple thing "C'mon! Leave that to the others with guts!"  
"I will take care it!" shouted Uiharu as she and the others waved them.  
"Alright! I get it ... STOP DRAGGING ME! I CAN WALK YOU KNOW!" shouted Rinnosuke as he annoyed by Gunha's action.

* * *

After Rinnosuke and Gunha left them, Mikoto looked at Kuroko.  
She seemed serious for some reason, so Mikoto decided to ask her "What is it, Kuroko?"  
Kuroko just fixed her glance to Mikoto and replied "About 'Lawless' just now ... I think I ever heard about it somewhere"  
"Come to think of it, I remember I ever heard about something called 'Lawless' once ... I just can't remember it" replied Mikoto back

Everyone was thinking so serious about this word 'till they gave up.  
Suddenly, Saten shouted and make everyone surprised "W-What is it, Saten?"  
"Ah! I know about it!" Saten turned back to Mikoto and the others with a happy smile  
"You do?" asked Kuroko as she demanded answers

"It is one of Urban Legend, The Strongest Skill-Out Group 'Lawless'... I heard very limited people inside that group. Almost all people inside the group became Urban Legend themselves"  
Kuroko continued, "Come to think about it, I ever heard a rumor that Gunha, who is #7 Level 5, ever fight that group and he lost."  
"Eh~ Come to think about it about 2 years ago that news spreading, right?" Mikoto added after she thought of it.  
"Unlike this day Skill-Out, they helped Anti-Skill and Judgment a lot... but their motives are so mysterious." added Uiharu.

"I wanted to try against them once, but I never meet them"  
Saten surprised "Eh~ I don't know you someone like that, Misaka-san"  
"Ahahaha~ I wanted to know them. That's all!" replied Mikoto as she put her hand on her head  
"May I say something?" asked Kuroko

Kuroko tried to explain something more, So everyone decided to hear it  
"If I don't wrong Gunha called Rinnosuke as 'leader', he might be the leader of the group! If he's real, the group must be real one too!"  
"You meant we just missed an Urban Legend in front of us that easily!" shouted Uiharu as the talk continued.

_(Uiharu and Saten are the only one in this group that interested when it come to something like this)_ thought Mikoto as she looked at her friend  
Mikoto remembered that Gunha tried to challenge Rinnosuke and he accepted it. She looked at Kuroko and immediately understood it.  
"I and Kuroko will see how they fight... you two, please tell the manager about the incident, Okay?"

After everyone agreed, Mikoto and Kuroko followed Gunha and Rinnosuke, who are going somewhere. Actually Mikoto have her own reason why she wanted to see him.

First, He keow Akemi-Senpai and Hibiki-Senpai... Those two were quite respected by Tokiwadai students, including Level 5's like Mikoto and 'Queen of Tokiwadai'

Second, he knew 'a certain idiot'

Third, he didn't look strong… She doubted Rinnosuke could defeat Gunha. Especially after he confirmed himself as a Level 0.

Mikoto and Kuroko finally caught up Gunha and Rinnosuke at a park. This place was so quite, seemed this one of way that almost never used by people. They are looking at a good hiding place where both of them can hide without anyone know about it. After that they heard some conversation between them.

Rinnosuke walked to another way and faced Gunha in a duel. They are separated by 10 meters or more. Mikoto can see their serious expressions. Rinnosuke talked as he prepared his left hand "Let's start it already ... I will end this quick and painless"

"Whenever you ready! Let's start it with GUTS!" shouted Gunha as he dashed to his way first Mikoto almost couldn't followed it with her eyes, but Rinnosuke able to dodge Gunha's attack with some degree of difficulty. He spun his body and hit Gunha with his left-hand fist Gunha. It surprised Mikoto and Kuroko for someone to land a blow on Gunha.

Rinnosuke let out a smile, smiles of victory "My ability can pierce any defense... Do you forget it already?"

Gunha prepared his fist and punched the air in front of him "What about this! Amazing Punch!"  
Rinnosuke put his left hand in front of him and destroyed something that come to him by hitting it with the back of his left hand.

Suddenly, an explosion happened and made dust-covered the field. When the dust gone... there is no trace of Rinnosuke anywhere.  
"Above, Onee-Sama!" as Kuroko pointed at the sky. Rinnosuke jumped to avoid the explosion. There's no sign of wound at his body, but what more surprising, he jumped so high as if he is flying.  
"Attack Crash, huh. You think that attack can make me down?" asked Rinnosuke as he smiled.

Using his left hand, he created big wind slash that came to Gunha. Gunha prepared his stance and stopped the attack without many effort

"I almost forget that you have that weird AIM Shield" as Rinnosuke finally landed down safely. Kuroko first thought Rinnosuke is Aeromaster, but she doubt about it... Whatever his power is, Rinnosuke is probably around Level 5 or even a Level 5. What kind of person who claimed he is a Level 0 when the person can fight evenly with a Level 5; he really sounds like 'that certain black spiky'.

"Time to start the real thing"

After he said that, Rinnosuke landed and dashed to Gunha while clenching his left hand. Gunha immediately punched the ground and make the land shattered, but Rinnosuke seemed predicted this move one step ahead and jumped, he landed while rolling to Gunha's side and sent a strike to his side.

"GUH~"as Gunha suddenly received another heavy strike from him. Rinnosuke used this chance to return back to his place; but it appeared his right leg's ankle hurt, most likely due his reckless jumping and landing.

Gunha shouted loudly "Nice punch! This time is my turn! I will show you my guts!"

Rinnosuke smiled and gone from his sight, including Mikoto's and Kuroko's sights.

Mikoto realized the abnormalities tried to guess what happened "What's going on?"  
"Teleport? No! I'm sure what we saw now isn't teleport"  
Kuroko, who being one of Teleporter in Academy City even said that not teleport ability

So, how he suddenly gone from their sight?  
Is it one of his ability? Even if he is Aeromaster ... how he do it? This obviously not Aeromaster's ability.  
Gunha looked around, he turned to other side and suddenly fell down

"W-What happened?" Mikoto shouted

Kuroko stopped Mikoto just in time "Onee-Sama! Be quite!"  
The two suddenly heard a voice  
"One attack from 'the spear' is strong enough to defeat you... am I right Gunha?"  
Just like a sheet that blown away by the wind, Rinnosuke appeared in same manner and at the place where he once were.

"That's one of great guts trick! How you do that?" asked Gunha to him as he demanded an answer  
"Just say... I'm starting to understand my ability quite well" He looked at his left hand  
Gunha finally fell down and fainted

"Really! You are strong, but if I compared you with last opponent I fight, she is stronger a little than you. But... You can be far stronger. To be honest, it scared and excited me at same time." Rinnosuke looked at Mikoto's and Kuroko's hideout "You guys please take care him, Okay? I will go now!"  
He knew where the two watched them and showed a smirk before he left

Kuroko advised Mikoto "What a weirdo … but he strong enough to defeat Gunha, we must be careful Onee-Sama"  
"Yeah! I hope we won't be enemy someday."

* * *

Kamijou Touma walked back to my dorm after he bought many things (foods) for a certain freeloader nun.  
"*Sigh* Fukou da! I should get discount for this if I come earlier to the supermarket" muttered Touma as he headed back to his dorm.  
Why did he come late to the supermarket?  
There are many reasons behind it, as Touma looked at his right hand and started sighing.

Just when Touma arrived at my dorm, he realized that his refrigeration have no food inside. This could mean trouble since 'a certain freeloader' is hungry very fast and can be furious anytime. So, he decided to go to supermarket. But, he realized that he lost his credit card somewhere inside his room.

When he found it, He run as fast as he could to the supermarket as the nun somehow looked scary. He ended fall down at the stairs multiple times. He decided to go through shortcut, just to find several thugs that want to do something bad to a girl. He helped her but his act was discovered before they left with them.

He ended running away from them and carry the girl together with him. After he sure they can't find them, the girl thanked him and they finally went to different directions. But knowing his misfortune, there is no way it will ended well.

Just when he arrived at the supermarket, he accidentally step a dog's tail and chased all the way. He kept running until he tired and finally arrived back at the supermarket to find the discount time was over.

"Fukou Da! But I won't gave up to something travail like this"  
_(Yeah! This Kamijou Touma never depends on luck in first place!)_  
"I should know this will be happened and just go with it like usual!"

Touma somehow hate himself after think about it. While he kept walking like this, he also get this feeling that. He forgot something important, it obviously not about food or that freeloader.

_(I felt I forget something. But, what is it?)_ These words kept haunting Touma over and over.  
"Ah forget it! Just go back ... this time I will used usual road... I don't want to end with thugs again"

He met a certain blonde boy in the way "Kami-yan! What are you doing?"  
"Ah, Tsuchimikado! Like usual, Buying some foods... Really, If this kept going one day I will have no money to feed that nun" Touma answered honestly.  
"Well~ If you need anything just asked, Kami-yan!"  
"Thanks... Want to go back together?"

"Off course! I heard that Maika's dorm's Air-conditioner broke down, so she decided to stay at my place again"

Tsuchimikado Motoharu, the sis-con sergeant, seemed proud after say that word.  
Her sister Maika, who is maid in training, sometimes help him a lot... so it is Okay. They both kept walking and Touma stopped his step.

"What is it Kami-yan" asked Tsuchimikado as he looked at Touma.  
But Touma ignored what he asked... something more important is in front of him now. Touma asked Tsuchimikado to pinch his cheeks at same time while saying "Am I see some hallucination? Okay! It hurts! So it is real!"

He saw someone he knew, in fact... he ever see the boy's appearances during one of his flashback when Mikoto knocked him down during their duel (*For More information see 'Experiment Sister Arc Final').

What he saw is a boy in unique style and appearance. The boy's silver hair, even though it's longer... make him somehow handsome. The eyes that seems like gold, covered by glasses, make him looked smart and showed that he have mysterious side. And that face...

There's one big problem, Touma didn't know the boy's name. Thanks to event that happened on July 28th, he lost most of his memories.

Tsuchimikado looked at same direction as Touma is. The boy finally looked at them. He was running to Touma... he seemed happy for some reason.

_(Wait a minute! Doesn't he run too fast ... and why is he clenching his left fist like that?)_

After he already close enough, he suddenly gave Touma his greeting fist.

"What that for!" shouted Touma after he and the groceries he bought, went to the sky. Touma looked at the sky as he hit the ground several times. He finally landed with his head hit the ground and his body felt a lot of pains. The groceries that he bought hit his head several times. Good thing, nothing fragile there. The bad thing is his head hurt a lot.

Touma stood up and shouted at the boy "WHAT ARE YOU DOING, BASTARD!"  
Tsuchimikado surprised and looked at the boy, who just punched Touma.  
The boy himself replied with smiling face "Ah! I just finished my promise to you from last time! About, I am going to punch you if I go back to Academy City once again and met you! "  
Touma touched his cheek and shouted at the silver hair boy "JUST WHAT I DO TO GET THAT PUNCH!"

"Oh! You don't remember? You agree 'that you will get that punch if I come back'"

The boy showed his grin that annoyed Touma.  
"Do you have a proof?" as Touma pointed his right index finger to him _(There's no way I swear like that… maybe, I dunno)  
_Rinnosuke showed a recorder-like device and played it._  
_

Rinnosuke: Hey Touma! Promise me that when I'm returned and meet you again, I will punch you  
Touma: O-Oi! I don't want to make that promise! I don't like pain, Rinnosuke!  
Rinnosuke: Please Touma~ I know you are a good man~  
Touma: *sigh* Whatever you say

And the recording is cut off. (_T-That is my sound just now?)_

Touma started thinking for an appropriate answer, he didn't want them to know he lost his memories…  
(_C'mon! What Kamijou Touma will say in such situation.) _"You tricked me into saying that, it's illegal!"  
"Well, you can't complain~"  
"Fukou da..."

Tsuchimikado showed his interest in the boy and asked Touma "A friend of your?"  
"Hardly- I meant he punched me..." protested Touma  
"Name is Kuroshiro Rinnosuke, just call me Rinnosuke! Nice to meet you, Tsuchimikado Motoharu"  
"How you know my name? You tell him about me Kami-yan?"

Touma didn't know what to answer. Rinnosuke cut the conversation "A Level 0... that ability of yours, Auto-Regeneration, is quite interesting."  
From his perspective as a spy, Tsuchimikado saw Rinnosuke as someone like him. He appeared already done some researches about people who interacted with Touma, is he a-  
"I'm genuine Academy City's citizen. I born here and I can assure you that I'm not a spy... Let's say, I have someone like you in my contact list"

Rinnosuke showed his smile again, but Tsuchimikado could say he isn't someone who you like to be mess with.  
While Touma's first impression is ... this guy will bring new sets of problems for him

Because he wanted to talk more, Rinnosuke treated them and bring them to food stall at park. It always nice to have a drink while chatting.  
"So Touma! How are you been for this last year?" Rinnosuke started the conversation by asking Touma. After all, they didn't see each other for a long time.  
Touma replied his answer while massaging his own elbow "Still misfortune as ever, Rinnosuke."

Rinnosuke stared at Touma with suspicious look "..."

_(Crap! Did I say something wrong?)_

Touma decided to ask him while shaking that suspicious look off "How about you?"  
However, Rinnosuke didn't take Touma's bait at all. He went straight to the point "'Dense porcupine'! Call me Kourin, I like that name better" (A/N: There are reasons why Rinnosuke called him like this… Dense for his personality and porcupine pointed to his hair)

"Who 'dense porcupine'!" shouted Touma loudly at him

Tsuchimikado laughed at Touma's nickname before fixed his glasses "What an interesting friend you have, Kami-yan."  
"Well thanks"  
"Nya~ Come to think of it, have we meet before? Your face looked familiar."  
"Remember one of your classmates while looking to my face, You will get it" suggested Rinnosuke

Tsuchimikado looked at Rinnosuke very well and finally got it "Ah! So you are Miyu's twin brother that she usually talking about!"  
Touma ever heard the name of Miyu before, if he didn't wrong she is one of their classmates  
"Yeah! Well~ Thanks a lot for taking care my little sister"  
Tsuchimikado smiled "She and Fukiyose are the ones, who 'take care' of us."

Being the one who didn't take any part of the conversation made Touma tired. "I wish for an encounter"

Tsuchimikado told Rinnosuke something after hearing that statement "By the way, I bet you ever heard 'harem grand plan' from Miyu"  
"Something to do with Touma's luck with ladies right?" Rinnosuke added as he took at glance at Touma "So~ Who you added to your harem this time?"  
_(Just what he meant by it)_ shouted Touma inside his mind

"I don't have a harem okay, cut it out."  
Rinnosuke suddenly brought out a topic that made Touma surprised "Aww~ but how you can befriend with the #3 Level 5? I heard it from herself that she know you"  
"You meet her?" asked Touma

"Well~ Under interesting conditions~ Just answer my question already!" replied Rinnosuke cheerfully  
Touma tried to not tell Rinnosuke about [Experiment], so he looked for other good answer "Umm...is just I helped her with something."  
Touma have a feeling that he can't hide the secret from this silver hair boy for a long time; The boy looked so sharp.

"The usual Touma... Still, What are you hiding? You didn't act like your usual self"

Rinnosuke's question made Touma's heartbeat beats so fast. He needed to give him a satisfying answer for this boy or he will keep asking him.

"Well~ It because some event I done lately … Give me no time to break" (A/N: Yeah! The events that determined world's fate XD)

"I see... Alright! I won't ask any further than this. After all, you looked like someone who need a serious help..."

While Enjoying their drinks, they decided to relax before Rinnosuke went together with the Delta Force duo to their dorm.

* * *

A person suddenly fall down with his nose bleeding  
At same time, Touma realized his actions.  
He punched him... This could be bad.  
But, He must do it. They tried to force a girl to do something really bad.

Touma's group could see the friends of person, who Touma hit, were quite angry.  
"You got some guts to hit him...punk!" One of them talked.  
"Seems my misfortune play with me again ... Can you guys help me?"  
Rinnosuke and Tsuchimikado started humming while looking at the opponents, both of them can see about 20 thugs.

"I am just wanted to go back to my dorm peacefully. Fukou da!"  
"Every action has it's own consequences Touma~" answered Rinnosuke.  
"Good thing, nya~ There is someone, who could help in taking of them. Right, Rinnosuke?" answered Tsuchimikado as he looked at smiling Rinnosuke.  
"Yeah! Hey Touma! Why don't we both handle them? Like the old time!"

Touma didn't get what Rinnosuke meant, but he needed some help.  
Rinnosuke said to Tsuchimikado proudly "Tsuchimikado, just looked how good both of us!"  
Tsuchimikado nodded " I wanna see it too, Nya~"  
One of the thugs suddenly shouted "Don't underestimate us, BASTARD!"  
Without a warning, Rinnosuke kicked him at his face "Just shut up, A**h***!"

Touma relaxed his own body first "*Sigh* Okay! Seems we have to show them a thing or two about street fight!"  
"Don't slow me down... I already heard that you haven't taken any fights seriously lately" added Rinnosuke  
Touma looked at Rinnosuke with annoyed face "Do you think I crazy enough to think I can handle many people at once"  
Rinnosuke gave him a smirk "Chicken~ Don't tell me... your old skill already gone"

Touma unable to contain Rinnosuke's provoke anymore _(Okay! That is the last straw!)_  
Touma immediately challenged Rinnosuke "SHUT UP! LET'S SEE WHO ABLE TO FINISH THEM THE MOST! WITH OUR OWN FISTS!"  
"Okay! The loser will do what winner ask!"  
"DEAL! LET'S DO IT!"

One of thugs seems angry with their argument  
"Damn those guys! Let's attack those guys!"  
And all of them come to them, some come with steel bats and knives  
Some showed their ESPer's powers... But both of them really don't care about it now!

* * *

**One hour later,**

After sending Sogiita Gunha, #7 Level 5 that injured by Rinnosuke, to the hospital; Kuroko and Uiharu are heading back to Judgment 177 Branch Office to report Konori about what happened. They made a report about what has happened today. Saten headed back to her own dorm, while Mikoto accompanied them.

During making their report, Kuroko and Uiharu heard several screams from a nearby alley. Kuroko immediately stood up from her chair, Konori ordered Uiharu to call Anti-Skill while she and Kuroko investigated it.

"Hey Kuroko! Konori-Senpai! Let me also help you!"  
"Sure! We maybe need your help for this"  
_(Onee-sama would follow too... Ah~ Onee-sama... Wait! It's not time for me to think of that)_

They finally arrived there, but the scene they saw is a surprise. About 20 Skill-Out... lying around and moaning in pain. Mikoto didn't say a thing except, "Who would do that to these guys? I know they maybe the bad guy, but still... "

Kuroko ignored her comment and began to ask some of the guys, who are still conscious.  
"Hey, I'm from [JUDGMENT], can you tell me what happened here?" asked Kuroko asked a young man.  
But, she could see fear in his eyes... he is frightened, fear of something.

At the same time, Konori and Mikoto came just in time to that man as he muttering some sentences "T-That b-black s-spiky hair b-boy and s-silver h-hair boy...w-who are those guys?"  
_(This spiky hair boy intrigues me... a description which is familiar)_ Kuroko immediately ignored it after hearing sound of sirens.

* * *

Rinnosuke started humming happily as he looked his back "You still lost in the end~"  
Kamijou Touma replied him angrily "SHUT UP! YOU JUST TAKE THE LAST ONE BEFORE I CAN PUNCH HIM!"  
Tsuchimikado tried to calm Touma down. "Kami-yan, You seems so temperamental today... Not like your usual self, nya~"  
"Why I mustn't angry to him, Tsuchimikado! He! He is demon!"

Touma pointed his index finger to me, while carrying something on his back

Rinnosuke showed him a smirk "Well~ Well~ Who order you to lost your chance! Do your punishment now! Don't let that thing, get off from your back till I say so!"

Everyone would laugh after see the scene. Tsuchimikado brought Touma's groceries while Touma carried a cleaning robot on his back. Rinnosuke already turned it off first. But, since the robot quite heavy enough; Touma looked tired a lot. Rinnosuke knew how embarrassed Touma is now. Rinnosuke just laughed at Touma's suffering from the punishment.

_(Well~ His dorm already close) _"You may stop brought that things, Touma! Punishment is over!" ordered Rinnosuke to him.  
Touma finally let go the cleaning robot, Tsuchimikado laughed for some reason

Touma looked at Rinnosuke and asked "What are you going to do now?"  
"Visiting my family ... See later, Touma and Tsuchimikado!" as he left them

"He is interesting boy, nya~"  
"My acquaintances can't be any weirder than this. Fukou Da!"

* * *

**Touma's Dorm,**

The day after Touma's reunion with Rinnosuke, Touma finished his breakfast with Index that morning but not without the everyday head bite from the nun, which Touma have gotten used to since he and 'a Certain Level 5 Electromaster' rescued her.

After cleaning the plate, he heard a knock on his door. He went to the door and opened it to see Tsuchimikado in front of him.  
"Morning Kami-yan~ How are you?" He greeted him with his usual grin.

_(Knowing this 'Super Spy' grinning in the morning is usually a bad sign... maybe.) _"Tsuchimikado, what do you want?"  
"Kami-yan, I want you to come with me, we need to see a certain person, nya~"

"What about Index?" Touma asks, fearing that Index will go in search for him if he's gone without any excuse.  
Tsuchimikado grinned, "Well, Maika is here so she agreed to play with Index."  
"Really! Thank you." Touma felt relieved... for a bit.  
After finished cleaning, he made an excuse for Index before went out with Tsuchimikado.

"So, who will we meet Tsuchimikado?"  
"We'll see him soon"

After walking for about an hour, the two arrived at a certain coffee shop and Touma saw a man in a black robe. He's staring at him with a cold stare.  
_(So...it's him...Fukou Da!)_  
"Oi Stiyl! He's here." Tsuchimikado said as he pointed at Touma.

"About bloody time you get here. I need to see you, Kamijou Touma." Stiyl greeted him in a cold glare.

(_What is he want this time...)_ "What is it now, Stiyl?"  
"I want you to find a boy named Kuroshiro Rinnosuke. I know he is acquaintance of yours."  
"Hah? Rinnosuke?" Touma just look at Stiyl with disbelief, why he want to meet Rinnosuke? Is he pissed off the Necessarius during his time in England? He'll never know. But that boy looked like a demon in Touma's eye that he might actually done that already.

"I'll tell you. But first, lead us to his home since he's your acquaintance after all."

Here is a big problem to Touma. He didn't remember where this acquaintance of his lived. It's all due to his memories lost when saving Index.  
Touma could just say 'I don't know his place at all', but he doubt this priest would believe his word. There's still one way left.

"Okay! I will But I need to go to toilet first."  
"Go! Don't think to run away, You will regret it"  
"haha... I won't!"U

It's a good thing that Touma asked Uiharu and Saten phone number during their 'summer vacation' that screwed up by his father's accidental 'Angel Fall'. Since Uiharu is a Judgment member, she could get information about Rinnosuke and where he lived. It's not Touma's style to do this, but he had no choice at all. It's this or fried by the crazy priest.

[Hello! This is Kazari Uiharu]  
"Ah! Uiharu-san, this is Kamijou. I need you."  
[E-EHHHHHH?! W-WH-WHAT?!]  
"I meant I really need your help!"

Uiharu finally got what Touma meant and managed to calm herself from misunderstanding.

[O-Off course! What is it, Kamijou-san?]  
"Could you find information about my friend?"  
[Sure! Who is it?]  
"Kuroshiro Rinnosuke"

Uiharu paused for a moment and talked with Touma  
[Ah! That person is friend of yours? Ah right! He told it yesterday.]  
"Yesterday?" Touma remembered that Rinnosuke talked about Mikoto, he might see her with her other friends.  
[Yes! Yesterday...]

Uiharu gave Touma the detail about Kuroshiro Rinnosuke that she knew and the information that Touma needed about him. What surprised him the most is the fact that 'this person' might have 'the same type of power' with Touma. While looking at his right hand, Uiharu called Touma.

[Are you still listening, Kamijou-san?]  
"Y-Yeah! I still here. Anyway, thanks for the information. You saved me lots of time, Uiharu-san."  
[Sure! See you later, Kamijou-san]

The phone line finally cut and Touma had information he needed; he met with Stiyl and Tsuchimikado once more. This time as their guide.

* * *

"So how come we ended in the bloody alleyway! Don't tell me you forgot!"

Stiyl prepared his flame sword. Here's what happened before; Stiyl and Tsuchimikado asked Touma to lead them to Rinnosuke's house, since they wanted to meet him. They decided to use Touma, who is Rinnosuke's acquaintance. But, he ended bring them to big dead-end alleyway.

"So...you want to mess with me huh? Kamijou Touma..." Stiyl getting annoyed.  
"Hey! Hey! Calm down!" Touma tried to calm him down  
Tsuchimikado then remembered something "Ah! If I don't wrong his full name is Kuroshiro Rinnosuke, right?"  
"Something about his full name?" as Stiyl looked at him

"Kuroshiro... also family name of famous researcher of Academy City, the most genius one... too bad he already died because car accident. Rinnosuke is his child, right?" informed Tsuchimikado.

Stiyl don't understand the correlation between this alleyway with Rinnosuke's home and Academy City's researcher, "What are you trying to say?"

"He might hide his house so no one able to come unless people he trust." Tsuchimikado started looking for something while put his hand on the wall. He finally hit something and the wall in front of them started going down

"Nya~ this is truly interesting mechanism. It felt more simple but tricky compared to what magician do."

Touma felt grateful that Tsuchimikado managed to save his skin this time. They saw a big house with big garden surrounding it

"So this is why we never find it in first place, huh~" Stiyl looked around.

They wanted to enter the place before various safety mechanisms activated and aimed at them. A robotic female voice can be heard, giving them a warning.

[This is a warning! If you go any closer without saying the password, you will regret ever come here.]

"I think that a sign for us to leave." warned Touma as he felt incoming misfortune.  
Stiyl and Tsuchimikado decided to break in by force. Or that what they thought before.  
A water cannon hit them hard before they could move. Stiyl decided to use his magic, but another water cannon sprayed him from other side and something sprayed to the air, it appeared to be some kind of pepper spray. It made them felt burning and started coughing.

"HOT HOT HOT! FUKOU DA!" shouted Touma as he continued to scream in pain.

Unexpectedly, The machine finally confirmed something.

[Sound scan 100% match with the database. The password already confirmed. Welcome, Kamijou Touma.]

The security system finally stopped attacking 'the intruders'. Stiyl looked at Touma with anger, he grabbed his collar

"If you say the password, we would be in this mess Kamijou Touma!"

Touma, who didn't know that his catchphrase is the password, decided to blame Stiyl back "It's your own fault! You have no patience."

Tsuchimikado decided to calm them down "Hey, calm down! Remember what we came here for. We are better meet this Rinnosuke instead of fighting with each other"

The machine replied something, as if it had its own mind [The owner of the house still not back yet.]

"What the hell is all that suffering for!" shouted Touma.

* * *

There were several Judgment members at a certain alleyway. They were investigating something, several Skill-Outs wounded by unknown person and this person gave big mess to them.

A Judgment called his friend "Hayate? Do you already done your job yet"  
"Give me a little moment here! Geez~ Who able to make mess like this... Damn Gunha! Why he must be hospitalized at time like this!"

The black hair boy muttering that word over and over again. Suddenly he heard a sound

"How we gonna find that demon?"

The boy turned around and saw someone he haven't seen in a long time.

"Touma? Hey, Touma! Long time no see... and what you meant by that demon?"  
Touma baffled someone he didn't recognize talk to him. Don't tell, he is one of his acquaintances too?! Why he is so misfortune these days! If it kept going, one day someone will learn his memory lost. It made Touma panicked, but he tried to be calm as possible and talked to the glasses boy back.

"Hey... Long time no see..."  
"It's been a while indeed, so who is with you?"

The boy looked at Stiyl and Tsuchimikado carefully "Friend of yours?"  
Touma decided to ask him a question, but this person might or might not know the answer "Yeah. It will take time to explain... They came here to look for Rinnosuke, do you-"

Without any chances to complete his sentences, the boy started shouting

"THAT GUY? RINNOSUKE? HE ALREADY BACK?"

The boy face became so pale after saying that word. If Touma have to take a guess, this 'Kuroshiro Rinnosuke' might be as troublesome as he thought.

"Oi Hayate! Who are you talking with?"  
"Ah! Don't worry! I'm just talking with myself"

The boy replied his Judgment's friend and looked back at Touma

"Let me introduce myself, my name is Hayate Keita. Touma call me 'Kei', but you guys can call me Hayate. Nice to meet you guys."

Hayate Keita introduced himself to Stiyl and Tsuchimikado before asking a questionin English, _"Did Rinnosuke destroy something in Londan that made you came to get him?"_  
Stiyl replied his question with English too,_ "No. I came here for a formal business"_

Touma didn't get what those two are talking about, English isn't his forte at all. The conversation between the two boys done and Keita said that he could help them looking for Rinnosuke. He pulled out his I-Pad and looking for something.

"If he really back, it most likely the one done this to the Skill-Out is him. The camera is out; but knowing his habit, he shouldn't be far away from here. There's a park near this place, just check that place"

After Touma and his group confirmed Rinnosuke's whereabout, they left him and Touma thank this Judgment friend of his  
"Thanks a lot for the information, Kei"  
Kei nodded and after they left, he showed his tired look "*Sigh* What excuse should I make this time... and why did you always make trouble, Rinnosuke?"

* * *

**At a certain park,**  
Rinnosuke, Tsuchimikado and Stiyl were walking at a park while looking for a certain person 'till they found him

"Ah! There he is! Oi, Rinnosuke!" Touma called and waved at him

The boy looked at them, he didn't show any expression at all, until he looked at Stiyl. Touma swore he saw a smirk on his face. For some reason Touma felt chill to his bones and his expression changed into fear

"What is it Kami-yan?" asked Tsuchimikado as he concerned about Touma's condition  
"N-Nothing at all!" as Touma smiled at them... It more likely he forced to show it

_(That Rinnosuke smirk! Why I have a feeling this won't ends well! Oh God, Why I must see it now! Fukou Da!) _Touma screamed inside his mind  
"I need to talk to him." Stiyl went there first  
Touma followed as if he tried to guard him; Tsuchimikado decided to wait near there.  
"What is it? It not like I'm going to die!" Stiyl showed his glare to Touma

"Better safe than sorry!" replied Touma.  
After Stiyl close enough with Rinnosuke, The boy called the priest "You are Stiyl Magnus, right? What are you doing here?"  
"We need to talk… it would be better if fewer people know it."  
They started talking in English, a language that Touma didn't understand.

Touma tried to ask but he couldn't; he somehow could felt the intense atmosphere at Rinnosuke-Stiyl talk, it like they are talking something serious. At one side, Stiyl seemed so serious ... at another hand, Rinnosuke seemed relax. Only one thing he know, in the end he rejected something from Stiyl as he make X-Cross with his arms.

_(Is this good or bad thing?)_ Touma unable to read what will going on next

Suddenly he saw Stiyl seemed angry as his veins almost showed up. This time, Stiyl talked with Rinnosuke in high-tone Japanese language

"For the last time Rinnosuke, I suggest you must back to England!"  
_(Huh? What is this he wanted him to back to England? What's the matter?)_ thought Touma as the situation getting intense

Rinnosuke replied lightly "And What if I don't?"  
"We will gonna have to take you in...By force." Stiyl created a Flame Sword and aimed it at him  
"This is starting bad, nya~" Tsuchimikado approached the group  
"HOW CAN YOU STILL ACT THAT CAREFREE! THIS IS GETTING WORSE HERE!" shouted Touma at his buddy

The two looked at Rinnosuke, who started smiling... Somehow they could feel chill at their spines  
"Is this a threat? My dear Stiyl" Suddenly he said something in annoying British Accent "you're not persuasive enough to make me join you."  
"Oh? And why do you said that?" Stiyl provoking him more  
Touma can see that Stiyl didn't realized that **he **the one in 'real danger'

"Umm... Stiyl, you'd better not make him pissed more..." suggested Touma as he tried to make Stiyl calm down  
Stiyl shouted at Touma "What he's gonna do?"  
Everyone silenced as Rinnosuke stood behind Stiyl's back. Rinnosuke cassually put his hand on Stiyl's back and showed him a scary expression  
"You know how a butcher cut meat? First he need to throw the spine off... and that what I'll do to you."

"W-When did you..."  
"You see... I'm not a person that can be persuaded easily... besides... I can't trust you after seeing this so-called... 'threat' of yours."  
For the first time, Touma can see Stiyl forced to give up like this "F-Fine..."  
Rinnosuke got his hand off from Stiyl's back and walked back to where he sit casually

"I told ya..." added Touma as he already see this  
"Shut your mouth, Kamijou Touma!" shouted Stiyl angrily at him  
"Fukou da..."

* * *

"Why so silent? It's not like there is poison in your food" Rinnosuke stared at Touma, Stiyl and Tsuchimikado.  
Stiyl kept looking at Rinnosuke while the others seemed thinking of something.  
_(Whatever they are thinking, it totally not my business)_ thought Rinnosuke as he fixed his glance to Stiyl.  
"In first place, why England's institute wanted me to go back so badly?" asked Rinnosuke

Stiyl twitched his eyebrows after heard it... he couldn't believe this person, who he tried to persuade, still didn't know the reason.  
"But I really don't know why, You only asked me to go back to England without explaining anything. So, Answer my question!", demanded Rinnosuke. Stiyl finally get why Rinnosuke immediately refused the request. There was more things that made Rinnosuke chose to stay

"You don't know? *Sigh* I should explain it first... no wonder" Stiyl put his hand on his forehead.  
"Tell us Stiyl! Why you wanted Rinnosuke to go back so badly" asked Touma.  
Stiyl looked at Tsuchimikado and he nodded back, Rinnosuke found this interesting.  
_(I don't know what relation these two have... But I sure they are partners)_ thought Rinnosuke as he fixed his eyes to Touma _(And for Touma, I bet he dragged into this mess... like usual Touma always have a way get into problems.)_

"It seems your 'development' is quite great... moreover, since the incident you done in England... The Institute Director wanted to exam you more" answered Stiyl as he tried to explain it as simple as possible  
"What do you meant by 'development', Stiyl ? And what incident you caused there, Rinnosuke?" asked Touma.  
Seemed he getting confused after heard all of this, Rinnosuke thought of something _(about the incident... does it meant that?)_

"Oi! 'About Incident I Caused', do you meant it has connection with the girl I defeated before?"  
Touma looked at Rinnosuke; his face showed some sour expression, Rinnosuke didn't care about that. What he wanted from Stiyl only confirmation  
"Yeah! That girl is a Saint after all. What you done can cause big uproar for 'our side'… " confirmed Stiyl as he looked at Rinnosuke.  
"A SAINT! YOU DEFEAT ONE?" Touma's eyes seemed almost out. Touma had experiances with one of Saints, Kanzaki Kaori, and it wasn't good at all.

"Geez, What the matter with this kind of thing? I only do things that I think correct at all" replied Rinnosuke easily.  
He started talking something else "Okay! I need to admit many things... that girl, who I fight... if I don't wrong her name is Tenshi, is incredibly strong. She did many things that I can't explained with ESPer curriculum that I learned. If you want to say, Luck is on my side when I win that battle."  
"To survive the battle and defeat someone as her level, It is something to be proud, nya~" praised Tsuchimikado

"A 'Saint'? Is it something to be proud if you able to defeat one?" Rinnosuke was getting curious about it  
Tsuchimikado smiled and looked at Stiyl, Stiyl himself seemed not happy with that action will Tsuchimikado do, but he finally let him.  
"'Saint' in 'our side' is someone who very powerful, only 20 of them in this world... Even they are capable to obliterate a country alone. You can compare them to nuke." explained Tsuchimikado  
"Okay! I get one thing here... People like Tenshi is very rare and they are strong... but comparing them to Nuke? Aren't you guys exaggerating it?"

Somehow Rinnosuke showed some interest especially after Tsuchimikado said something about 'side of theirs'.

"Does you guys meant there are another thing beside Science?"

It quite logical conclusion for Rinnosuke to end with; his fight against Tenshi already proved it. There are another organizations beside Academy City, that connected with every single mysterious phenomenon in the world. Rinnosuke remembered something...

_(It when Touma called me before, well~ he not answered it and seemed taking care something... there are a word that ringing at my head ... It also the word that Tenshi ever talked to me)_

He said the keyword that made everyone's expression changed dramatically "Magic? It is where you guys come from?"  
"Where... I meant when you learned about it" asked Stiyl with serious expression  
"During my fight... I would say bullshit, but now I can't huh~ And Touma, you also get into this thing huh?" Rinnosuke looked at his friend

"I don't want, I just forced to learn it." Touma can't hide it anymore... Rinnosuke know something changed Touma , but he never learned this is the cause  
Stiyl seemed looking for a word and talked "Let's forget about it! I still wanted you to go back to England"  
"I remembered the first time I and Manami came there; we treat like guinea pigs ... so NO! BIG NO to go back there! There is nothing interested me there!"

_(Geez... this kid is tough to persuade...) _thought Stiyl as he was looking for another alternative.  
He found one and this one might be the most hardest way that Stiyl ever used. "Alright! I have another suggestion to you, Rinnosuke."  
"And what is it?" Rinnosuke looked at him

Stiyl showed a smirk and Touma knew it, (_Oh god! That smirk... This isn't good.)_  
"Oh a suggestion? This is could be interesting nya~" added Tsuchimikado as he read what Stiyl is thinking now  
"How about a three versus one match? If you defeat us, I won't bother asking you again. Give me the prove that you don't want to join us...that's all." suggested Stiyl while thinking, (_Hope 'that woman' won't force me to ask this guy again)_  
He continued his words "But if one of us win, you have to return to England. Do I make myself clear?"

After Stiyl said that, he waited for Rinnosuke's reaction; he knew that Rinnosuke is strong enough against a Saint. But no matter how powerful he and the power he has, he must be have limitations. And with Kamijou Touma, he probably can exploit the weakness. Rinnosuke himself kept looking at Stiyl and showed complicated expressions. After a long thought, he finally replied "Hmm... sounds good. I haven't been in much actions."

_(Good! He accept it)_ "Can you gave us some time to prepare ourselves and discussed to where we will fight"  
"Sure! I don't want people to know about this meeting... I will wait here, tell me if you are ready to fight!"  
"Good. Tsuchimikado, Kamijou Touma... get ready!" Stiyl looked at two boys behind him

Tsuchimikado immediately replied "If you say so~"  
"Fukou da..." as Touma lamented his misfortune while talked to himself "Hope that Rinnosuke spare us"  
Before Stiyl left to prepare for the fight, he looked at Rinnosuke "Oh! And one more thing."  
Rinnosuke kept sitting on his chair, "What is it?"

"If we win and you're still didn't want to follow us...maybe your little sister will change your mind."  
And once Stiyl said that, Rinnosuke fixed his glance to Stiyl "... Could you say that again?"  
"Maybe your 'Little Sister' will be happy in our 'Monastery' as our 'Benevolent Nun of the Church'."

Rinnosuke showed murderous stares to them. The wind somehow become colder and harsher than before, as it tell them what the silver hair boy felt now. Stiyl himself even can felt a bad aura that coming out from the boy's body. Rinnosuke suddenly punched the table in front of them with his left hand and it destroyed into pieces

_(Did I go too far? Oh Jesus...this will be a bloody mess)_ Stiyl thought as he saw the boy and the broken table.

Not only destroy into pieces, the pieces itself destroyed into nothing  
_(Is it his power?)_ Stiyl looked at his left hand, (_I see... so he is in a sense is 'Kamijou Touma')_  
Tsuchimikado added "Nya~ It must be the reason he able to defeat the Saint"  
Touma didn't believe what he saw, but all he care now is how this situation will change.

Rinnosuke warned them with cold tone "If you dare lay your hand on my sister, I'll make you begged to your God to spare your heads!"  
"I won't do that if you don't break your promise" replied Stiyl as he tried to be calm as possible.  
Touma immediately take a step back after heard the declaration, (_Oh shit... He's snapped! And, he include me in the process!)_  
"Fukou da..." Touma lamented his misfortune once more

* * *

At an isolated place, Stiyl and the rest finally found a suitable place to fight.  
As they made their preparations, Stiyl looked at Touma and asked him a question in threatening tone  
_(Why I felt something bad will happen to me?)_ thought Touma  
"Okay! Now, Kamijou Touma! Tell me that guy weaknesses! You are his friend so you know about it right."

Touma tried to reject Stiyl's request "Why should I tell you? I never agree with this in first place!"  
Stiyl moved closer to Touma and Touma immediately took some steps back.  
He knew something horrible will be happened as Stiyl prepared his fire  
"If you don't, I will kill you fast enough before you can say..."

"Fukou Da..."  
"I'll still gonna tear your bloody limbs from your body if you kept silent. I know many ways to make you open your mouth, you wanted me to use one on you?"  
"C-C'mon! Don't be like that!" Touma kept receiving threatening glare from Stiyl  
Touma, who already terrified, decided to answer the question. It is better option than having his body burnt down, he know this guy never like him in first place

"*gulp* Okay, Okay! But I didn't understand his power that well. That 'left hand of his' might work in same way as my Imagine Breaker… maybe"

"Why you say maybe?"  
Touma couldn't say that he didn't know because his memory about Rinnosuke is gone, so he decided to answer in most logical way. Using the information he got from Uiharu from the phone, he drew some conclusions.  
"His power isn't something that I able to be understand. What I aware is the fact that his abilities allowed him to distort things surrounding him _(maybe?)_"

_(Seems my only option is using Innocentius. If it worked the same way as that right hand of his, there's a chance __Innocentius_ couldn't be destroyed by him.) "There is still another thing, Kamijou Touma._"  
_"Y-Yeah?"  
"If I and Tsuchimikado failed, you'll be our secret weapon to fight him."

Touma remembered when Stiyl suggested the fight, Rinnosuke aimed his focus on Touma with serious eyes.  
"I know you would say that...Fukou Da" Touma said in disappointment.

Touma might have a chance to defeat Rinnosuke compared to Stiyl and Tsuchimikado  
Stiyl knew that it wasn't his style to ask for Touma's help, but Stiyl don't want to get some preaches from his Arch-Bishop if his mission failed.  
"Well, you better agree with us, Kamijou Touma"  
"Kami-yan~ Please be our hope if we failed nya~"

_(I-It's more like I will be the punching bag! Rinnosuke is someone who liked to torture his opponents…) _Touma screamed in his mind as he remembered clearly how that acquaintance of his fight yesterday.  
Touma didn't have any other option; No one will hear 'no' from him, "Fukou da..."

* * *

The time has come, Stiyl finished his preparation, Rinnosuke was being picked up by Tsucimikado, while Kamijou Touma… had some problems  
"Sorry Index! I will come home late, Maika will take care you!"  
Not long time ago, Touma decided to buy Index a 0-yen phone, so he can communicated with her  
But it seems won't be easy as Index herself can't use it… Good thing Tsuchimikado Maika is there.

He could hear Index's pout from there and imagined what happened if she angry  
"I will buy you some food, okay?"  
[Okay! But Touma don't come home late or ended in hospital!]  
Touma laughed, _(It more likely I will ended there once more if my opponent is Rinnosuke. I already see how he fight yesterday.)_

After Touma cut the phone, Stiyl looked at him for some reason  
"What is it? Don't give me look like that"  
"Better not disappointed her! Or I will make you suffer!"  
"C-C'mon Stiyl! You are the one who forced me to join in this battle of yours"

"Then, do your job well! I swear if you dare to make her cry… You will feel the pain. No! You and that Middle School girl will feel the pain."  
"Don't you get Misaka involved in this. She's not your enemy!" Touma shouted at him.  
"You dragged her into this dark world of magic, so she's need to pay the price" Stiyl casually replied.  
"Ugh fine!"

Tsuchimikado Motoharu arrived with Rinnosuke  
Rinnosuke stopped in front of Stiyl and proudly declared that he is going to be the winner "Ready to lose?"  
"Don't get too cocky, boy **or** you'll regret it"  
"Whatever, you'll bow at my feet soon."

_(A rude one, isn't he? Well...) _Stiyl thought as he received another insult. He took a step foward.  
"Whoa... wanna started already, so you guys come at me at once ?" asked Rinnosuke  
Touma and Tsuchimikado left Rinnosuke and Stiyl  
"1 – 1 This is my kinda fight!" After Rinnosuke said that, he took several quick steps back; making distance between him and Stiyl larger.

Rinnosuke waited for the signal. His left hand's fingers were making crackling sound.  
Stiyl seemed to understand what that action meant

"Let's see how this turned out, Kami-yan" said Tsuchimikado as he looked at them  
"Yeah!" replied Touma, he saw a grin at Tsuchimikado's face and started hoping that isn't a bad sign

* * *

Back to arena, Stiyl and Rinnosuke faced each other  
"Okay, let's start." as Stiyl declared the beginning of the battle  
"Good! Let's started and finished this quickly." Rinnosuke started his first move.  
He dashed to Stiyl and prepared his left hand

Despite sudden action that Rinnosuke did, Stiyl was quite calm. In fact, he started chanting something. Flames started appearing in the arena and surrounding Stiyl as it tried to protected it. Rinnosuke himself didn't care about what is going on and kept charging

"(One of the five elements that build the Earth), (o great creator of flames), (The light of salvation that gives birth to life), ( the light of judgment that punishes evildoers)… (While bringing peace and stability at the same time), (it also destroys the cold and dark misfortune)… (Fire is the name), (sword is the title)!...( Show yourself) , (Swallow Myself', turn me into power)—!" , Stiyl sound getting higher and louder  
"Whatever you do it all already too late!" shouted Rinnosuke as he sent open-hand thrust to his front  
There is quite big distance between them, but an invisible attack came out from Rinnosuke's left hand and went to Stiyl

The wind roared, the ground got swept out and leaving straight lines; it really felt like Mikoto's railgun. Something invisible came from Rinnosuke's left hand, the leaves cut when they in the path. It is getting closer and closer; However, Stiyl managed to shout a word "Innocentius!"  
The flame that surrounding Stiyl started shaping and created an orange fire monster that appeared right in front of Stiyl

_(Is that an ESPer power? No, this is not ESPers... so this is Magic ? But, the 'spear' already sent... that thing will be destroyed!)_, thought Rinnosuke as he looked at the scene.  
But his prediction is wrong, the fire monster hit by Rinnosuke's attack but the attack itself seems unable to pierce through the flame monster's body  
It like a bullet that shot to a tidal wave and the bullet ended unable to pierce through the tidal.

"W-WHAT?" shouted Rinnosuke as he showed his surprise after saw the scene in front of him.  
"What's the matter? It seem like your 'Ace Card' that usually defeat you enemies in one-hit failed" Stiyl showed his smile  
Rinnosuke smiled and covered his face with his left hand, he started to laugh loudly  
Stiyl baffled looking at the current situation, to think that his opponent... this happy

"**Hehehe... AHAHAHAHA! THIS IS INTERESTING! TOTALLY FUN!**"  
Rinnosuke finished his laugh and talked with more normal manner "It seems this battle will be more enjoyable"  
After he said that, he released his left hand that covering his face; he lifted that hand and one could see his expression changed dramatically.

"Let's... START!"

Rinnosuke paused for a moment and charged like a wild animal that found his prey  
Stiyl, who realized that behavior, gave an order "Innocentius! CHARGE!"  
Innocentius charged at Rinnosuke and the monster blocked Rinnosuke's way

"You are wrong if you think, my ability only my left hand"  
Wind started gathering around his left hand and creating wind blade that cut Innocentius' body. Rinnosuke swiped Innocentius away and it gone, but Stiyl somehow not surprised. He acted like that boy (Touma), even though he was more aggressive.

"That's it? Is that monster's capability only that far?"  
Rinnosuke stopped moving, not by Stiyl's action ... but by the fire that moving abnormally The sound of thick liquid bubbling around can be heard all over the place.  
"What...?"

Rinnosuke didn't take a step forward... if he do, he would have definitely been attacked from all directions by the flames. At that moment, the fire gathered around from all over the place, and reformed into a humanoid shape.  
"You are kidding me!" the monster stood right in front of Rinnosuke

"But at this range, I going to eradicate it completely!" shouted Rinnosuke as he gripped his left hand and sent the monster a knuckle. He sent his knuckle to Innocentius, which at his left side. It stroke an invisible wall and the space seemed cracked. Just like when Index using her 'Dragon Breath'. Unexplained force hit Innocentius so hardly. This time Innocentius blown away.

"Now, it's, !"

Innocentius came back to normal before Rinnosuke able to celebrate it.  
"That way of yours. Totally won't affected my Innocentius" said Stiyl as he prepared something

Stiyl prepared his rune card  
_(Wait a second! Those cards) _Rinnosuke remembered his way to this place  
He saw many cards at some place, he didn't think about it , but now he did  
_(I see... So that's the secret huh... Seems to destroy this monster, I must make the cards disappeared... No it more likely he won't let it)  
_

Rinnosuke started thinking his strategies  
Rinnosuke fixed his eyes to Stiyl, (_Just finished the user and all will be over)  
_Innocentius swung its arm to Rinnosuke, but Rinnosuke didn't move

"RINNOSUKE!" shouted Touma as Innocentius managed to hit him  
But what he saw is illusion, it isn't the real him

_(He is gone? No... He still here. I just can't predicted where he will attack me)_ thought Stiyl as he tried to find out where Rinnosuke is. He heard a sound and turned his back, he could see Rinnosuke came to him with his left hand forming fist

"GOT YOU!" shouted Rinnosuke. His left hand fist would land on Stiyl's face if Innocentius didn't appear in front of Stiyl and blocked the attack; Rinnosuke analyzed the situation as the temperature was getting hotter the closer the fire monster with him.

_(Plan B failed! Time to Plan C. This time, he will down!)_

Rinnosuke looked at Stiyl's Innocentius that standing and blocked Rinnosuke's view; he knew Stiyl stood behind it and this chance is what he aimed for. Since he couldn't see his target, the opposite should be the same.

_(NOW!)_

Once more Rinnosuke sent his open-hand thrust to Innocentius  
"Useless, you attack won't destroy Innocentius ... Guah!"  
Stiyl felt some pain at his stomach. It felt like a spear hit his stomach.

"First lesson! Don't underestimate your enemy. Second lesson, don't think you can hide from my attack"  
There's a hole on Innocentius' body and Rinnosuke's left hand was inside that hole.  
"Good thing you used 'this thing' in front of you, so you can't see me and use the opportunity... My attack able to pierce this monster body if I close enough. Hehe, how's the taste? My attack hit you" Rinnosuke's showed his smile

"You are...Urgh..." Stiyl was holding his stomach. No wound there, but it hurt. The fire monster, which accompanied Stiyl, disappeared and left no trace at all. Stiyl was already at the end of his ability  
"Hmm? Did I hear a disappointment from you, Priest?" Rinnosuke continued to mock him  
"Don't you dare to mock me! BOY!" shouted Stiyl as he using all his strength to get up

But Rinnosuke punched him "Sleep already! I like your spirit, but you won't win if you used your body like that"  
Stiyl finally fall to the ground... he fainted  
The boy lifted Stiyl's body and placed it at a bench chair near there  
"Well then, who is the next one?" asked Rinnosuke as he looked at his remaining two challengers

"Nya~ Stiyl is down, Rinnosuke-san sure is good to beat Stiyl." praised Tsuchimikado.  
Touma, who already panicked, asked Tsuchimikado for advice "Then what should we do!"  
Tsuchimikado smiled and looked at Touma, "**We**? I heard it was **you **and **him**."  
At time like this, Tsuchimikado still used his philosopy, just like his magic name which means 'backstabber'

"TSUCHIMIKADO!" protested Touma as he couldn't believe Tsuchimikado dare to leave him alone  
"Using my powers here just make it more troublesome. So, please take care of him okay Nya~"  
He ran away from the battlefield

Touma kept shouting at him "TSUCHIMIKADO! YOU BASTARD!"  
Rinnosuke walked near Touma while smiling "So, that blonde guy pull out? Well, Well Touma...it's just you and me, I will enjoy seeing you scream in pain."  
Touma started crying as he said his favorite word "Fukou...Da... Please Spare me!"  
"Okay."

"HUH? What's going on here? I thought you gonna..."  
"It's you alright! However, I think you already notice it..."  
Touma didn't understan what's going on, but it isn't good. He could fell chill that he never experience before, something he is afraid of.  
"You are not the 'past you'."

"!"

At that instant, Kamijou Touma's shoulders made a big movement. Big, as if he was seeing tremors that would decide his life. Seeing the bewildered Kamijou, Rinnosuke closed his eyes

So what.

"I'm not that stupid. Your act to hide that fact is incredible... and disappointing."

Kamijou Touma stood there, unable to move as if his body was a rock. His mind couldn't think straight at all.

"Aren't you too afraid? Do you afraid you will lost everything?"

The moment Rinnosuke asked him, he finally realized something.

"I won't force you to tell me what happen to your memories, but ... do you regret it? Your action that led to that memory destruction of yours."

Rinnosuke looked at him with serious eyes, Touma could see the boy called Kuroshiro Rinnosuke worried about Kamijou Touma. He smiled and say the answer

"No."

Touma continued

"Though I can't remember the events from before, even so, it is because of them I'm able to stand here. The 'me' from the past still motivates the 'me' that can't remember anything today. What he left behind isn't in the 'head', but in the 'heart'. So, it doesn't matter if I can't remember, I still understand what I need to do."

Kamijou Touma probably held a vague "something" that even he couldn't grasp as a source of pride. Because of his beliefs, he didn't have regrets. If he were to meet his pastself, he would be able to say "Thank you," with a smile and without hesitation. This boy believed this without doubt.

Rinnosuke smiled and laughed at Touma's reaction, "And here I thought you gonna break down already. I really a fool. You are right, Kamijou Touma. You might not 'the same Kamijou Touma' I know, but you are the 'Kamijou Touma' I proud of. 'The past you' will be happy to see 'you'."

Rinnosuke seemed happy for some reason, (_This gonna be interesting...)  
_Touma didn't get what's going on in his friend's mind but... To think he accepted the reality, made Touma somewhat happy that he didn't need to lie to him.  
"Just tell me whenever you need help, I will be your side. No matter what happened since you are my very first best friend."  
"Rinnosuke..."

"I still wanna to punch you now for not telling this sooner."  
"EH?"  
"Prepare yourself, Kamijou Touma!"  
"WAIT A SECOND! WHERE ALL THOSE GOOD SCREEN GONE!"

The boy decided to punish the foolish friend of his with all his power.

* * *

**An hour later,**

Stiyl, who fainted thanks to Rinnosuke's attack, awake from his long sleep "Ugh...damn, he knocked me hard..."  
He looked who were fighting, Touma and Rinnosuke "Eh? The two started fighting?"  
A cheerful response could be heard "This is interesting nya~"

Stiyl surprised to learn that Tsuchimikado beside him and with no sign of wound "TSUCHIMIKADO! I thought you gonna fight him!"  
Tsuchimikado moved his finger"Nah, I would be in the way of those two...besides, I don't want my Maika to see me injured for nothing Nya~"  
"*sigh* You are a backstabber, do you."

Tsuchimikado just chuckled a little, "It's my nature."  
He diverted the talk to another topic "Anyway, I heard our old friend came back to see the Saint we ... I meant Rinnosuke captured."  
"Where did you heard that? Never mind! Yeah, it's true..."  
"Dominatus505...he never forget 'that day', huh?"  
Stiyl replied while watching Touma and Rinnosuke "Yeah."

* * *

**At the same time,**

A big wind guillotine almost hit Touma from above, but he reacted quickly with his right hand  
Sounds of glasses broken could be heard and Touma immediately looked at Rinnosuke "Gimme a break! That punishment is too much!"  
"And what will make you think you could said that?"  
After Rinnosuke said that, a punch struck his face, make his glasses broken

Touma showed his right fist "That's why!"  
Rinnosuke, whose glasses already broken, throw his glasses and looked at Touma with angry eyes "Tch! That alone won't take me down!"  
The two of them continued their brawls as their stamina almost depleted.  
They both kept fighting 'till both side tired

"*panting* Man...this is tough..." Touma wiped his sweats  
Rinnosuke looked at him "*Panting* What's the matter? Getting tired? Good! I gonna make you remember every pieces of terror to your think skull once more!"  
"I don't want it!" shouted Touma loudly

Rinnosuke showed his left fist "Then...show me what you got! Put all your strength on this final strike!"  
Touma showed his right fist "Gladly...buddy!"  
The two charged all together; when they already close, they sent their own fists  
The two fists collided; It's collision made the two fists flashed and created a huge shockwave.

"W-What the heck is that!" shouted Stiyl as he can felt the shockwave that created by those two  
"Hmm..." as Tsuchimikado stared at the scene, (_Is it the reason why Academy City ... No, __General Superintendent _want him back so badly?)  
The shockwave finally disappeared and the dust that covered the arena gone, making Stiyl and Tsuchimikado can see clearly once more

Touma started panting and collapsed. Rinnosuke looked at Touma and wiping his sweats "It seems...*panting* I won..."  
Stiyl come there with surprised face "I can't believe this!"  
Rinnosuke looked at him "like your promise"

Stiyl gritted his teeth and replied "I get it! I will kept my promise, I even surprised you managed to make him fall"  
"*Panting* It because Touma didn't serious, he don't want to hurt me." While he said it simply, Rinnosuke kept feeling pain all over his body.  
Rinosuke took some breathes and continued "*Panting* The situation will be different if I *Panting* at bad side and hurt people, he won't let me go and used his all strength to make me down."

His vision was getting blurred "Oh great!"  
Rinnosuke finally fall down and fainted  
"Finally down! Damn you Tsuchimikado! If you joined in, we should win the fight..." regretted Stiyl.  
"I already told you! I don't want my Maika ..."

Stiyl interrupted him immediately "Ah, Whatever! I still need a prove to bring to 'that woman'" said Stiyl as he looked at the boys.

* * *

Inside a hospital, an old man is handling a silver-haired boy. This old main is the head-doctor there and the grandfather of silver-haired boy. Known as Heaven Canceler, an exceptionally-gifted and benevolent physician, he used to treat Touma every time he got into hospital. He also known for his face that looked like frog

"You finally come back, but you also bring some problem back too... Tell me what you do to your friend there until he can't move?" asked Heaven Canceler as he tending Rinnosuke's wound.  
"Ouch! My nose..." He explained it with his own way "Well~ some 'Hi'?"  
Heaven Canceler let out a sigh "Your 'Hi' make other people in pain... a lot"

Rinnosuke looked at his grandfather with dissatisfied face, "Sorry for make your office into such a mess, but you should tell me about it"  
Heaven Canceler got what Rinnosuke meant "You already learned it, don't you? What do you feel?"  
"Anger, Disappointment, Expectation and Pride. I gonna help him, go through this hard time. He is my best friend."

The old man looked at the boy with pride, "*sigh* I think I'm the one who underestimated you too much... You really grown up"  
"Well..."  
Suddenly someone come in, make both of them looked at the person

"Your twin sister already here" Heaven Canceler pointed Rinnosuke to a girl, who looked like him ... almost  
What differ them only their genders, their eyes' colors and their hairs' colors.  
"Ah! Miyu!" Rinnosuke greeted her  
"Onii-san! Just what are you doing?" after she said that, she punched his head "I heard you make another problem"

Rinnosuke put his hand on his head "Ouch! ... Well~ I'm sorry..." but he said the last words without any guilt.  
Miyu smiled as she hugged her from behind "Whatever~ I'm glad you come back!"  
Rinnosuke replied calmly as he pet his little sister's head "Oi Miyu! Can't you stop your habit?"  
"No!" as she showed her smile "Say..." but her words interrupted as someone come in.

A blonde haired boy, who is Miyu's classmate, Tsuchimikado Motoharu  
"Tsuchimikado? What are you doing here?"  
Tsuchimikado looked at them "Nya~ Miyu, I need to talk with your brother for a second... Rinnosuke?"  
Rinnosuke seemed not happy for some reason "Grandpa! I'm borrowing your scissors and this rubber band"

Heaven Canceler just looked at him "For what? At least, don't used it for bad thing!"  
"Don't worry! I wanna changed my style a bit." He put the scissors and the rubber band in his pocket  
"Let's go Tsuchimikado" Rinnosuke get out from room with Tsuchimikado and closed the door

Miyu and Heaven Canceler stared to each other before Miyu went out, leaving Heaven Canceler alone. Heaven Canceler chuckled while looking at the picture on his table. A picture of a young scientist and himself.

"Oh Ryouchi, look at your son...still mischievous all this time... Your daughter, at another hand, grows as a fine beauty"  
His expression turned to a sad face "But...I also wished to see the other son of yours Ryouchi for a final time"  
"*Sigh* It's been a long time since that incident? That another son of yours should be grow well. If he didn't die in 'that incident'"

* * *

Stiyl is about to light up a cigarette, but he stopped ...  
The reason quite simple, this is hospital area and it will be rude to him to smoking there  
He was looking at another side, waiting for someone to arrive  
"About time you come here." said Stiyl as he found who he wanted to meet

Rinnosuke came there with Tsuchimikado and he only gave silent response to Stiyl's greeting  
"Like I said before, the Necessarius won't forced you to join anymore... But"  
"You wanna proof, right? For that Arch-Bishop." Rinnosuke finally talked, he seemed not happy for some reason  
Tsuchimikado looked at Rinnosuke "The problem is what you going to give to 'her'?"

Rinnosuke took out the scissors that he borrowed before  
Stiyl confused while asking "You meant that thing?"  
Rinnosuke replied simply "Not this but..."  
He cut his word as he tied his long hair with a rubber band and he swing the scissors to his hair

"This. Satisfied?" Rinnosuke gave Stiyl his ponytail, part of his hair.  
"I think this is good enough!" Stiyl took the ponytail  
He looked at Rinnosuke, whose hair already short "I also wanted to ask you one thing"  
Rinnosuke revealed a confused look, but he agreed to hear it "Sure!"

"We might need to acquire your assistance if something comes up, will you do it for us?:  
Rinnosuke scratched his head as he thinking something, he finally answered "I will ... If I wanted to, deal?"  
Stiyl smiled and started walked away from there "Deal then, anyway I have to take my flight. We'll meet again."

Rinnosuke fixed his glance at smiling Tsuchimikado "And you?"

"I live here, nya~ We maybe meet sometimes"  
"Whatever..." Tsuchimikado already left the place and Rinnosuke called someone "Oi! You don't have to hide anymore, Miyu. They already gone"  
His twin sister appeared and asked him "Onii-san, what are you doing?"

Rinnosuke replied while smiling "A deal! So how about my new hair?"  
"We need to make it better" suggested Miyu "I know a good salon, Let's go there!"  
Rinnosuke let out a sigh "Sure! Let's tell grandpa and visit Touma!"

* * *

A certain morning after the fight between two old friends, a certain spiky hair boy was admitted again into the hospital courtesy of a certain silver hair boy, who defeated him in one on one combat. Today, the spiky hair boy named Kamijou Touma is still sleeping soundly until he feels something heavy on top of him.

"Ugh...h-heavy..." He mumbled but the pressure on his body begin to mount and forced him to open his eyes and saw Index on top of him.  
"I-INDEX!" Touma speak the first word for today as he sees a certain nun that possesses 103,000 forbidden grimoires in her head.  
That nun named Index began to pout and said, "Touma! You got hurt again do you! I've waited for you at home and you never came back!"  
Touma tried to make an excuse but he gives up, "Ahaha...as you see at me Index..."

"This Index is worry about you Touma!" Index pouted at him.  
"I'm sorry Index" Touma asks her forgiveness.  
But he sees Index in her 'anger' mode and said, "You already said that you won't get into this place but yet..." and she showing her teeth to bite him.  
Touma immediately shouted, "I-I'm sorry Index!"

With that, Index didn't bite him...for now.

After she decided she didn't want to bite at Touma, Index then said, "Touma, it's not only me that is worry about you."  
"Who is it?" Touma wondered.  
Immediately, a certain brown haired middle schooler barge into his ward and shouted, "OI, IDIOT!"  
"GAH! M-MISAKA!" Touma shocked to see Misaka Mikoto, the #3 Railgun barge into his ward.

Mikoto's face showed some anger after seeing Touma back in the ward.  
"YOU...YOU..." She said to him.  
Knowing that is the indication of Mikoto getting angrier (or so Touma thought), Touma immediately shielded himself while saying, "I-I'M SORRY MISAKA!"  
But surprisingly, he heard Mikoto said, "You make me worried sick you know that! I heard about it from Kuroko!"

Apparently, the fight between Touma and Rinnosuke is also caught the attention of Judgment and decided to investigate it. According to security camera, they saw four guys, two on the ground and two tried to carrying them … but they can't see their faces. After Mikoto heard from Index that Touma don't come home, she was quite sure that one of them is Touma. So, she came to hospital to check it and it's true

"I'm sorry Misaka, I'm really am...I won't do that again." Touma said to comfort Mikoto's emotion.  
Mikoto smiled "Now, for making us worrying like crazy..."  
Index continued, "You have to be punished Touma~"

"W-Wait...what? Punish? You gotta be kidding, right? Rinnosuke's punishment already made my entire body in pain" Touma said while made an anxious smile.  
Mikoto said, "Just as Index-san said~" The two grinned at each other and at Touma.  
Touma knew that those grin indicating that he's officially in trouble; he muttered, "Fukou Da..."

**Meanwhile,**

Two twins outside Touma's ward heard and watched the conversation between Touma and Index with Mikoto.  
"Interesting~ This is really in-ter-est-ing~" Rinnosuke hummed as he watched the three in the ward.  
His sister, Miyu, shook her head and warned him "Onii-chan~ let's go and fix your hair, I don't want you to make more trouble here."

She pulled his brother's arm. Rinnosuke continued to grin that even the Joker's grin from Batman cannot compare to Rinnosuke's and he said while laughing, "Get ready for more misfortune...KAMIJOU TOUMA!"  
"Geez~ Onii-chan!" Miyu started complaining about her brother's personality and continued to drag Rinnosuke away from Touma's ward.

* * *

And that's how my original fanfic ended

Introduce a character with power totally opposite of Touma, adding with his not-so-good personality, I kinda like it

Please gave me reviews so I can learn my false Okay ^_^

Next time in my fanfic : Three-Story Arc (Last Order Arc - Fake Date Arc)


	8. 3 Way Arc - Two Side of Coin

**Sorry for the late upload~ I really have many things to do.  
For the one who support my story 'till now, Thank you for helping.  
Now let me continue this story (Thanks to Fuji92, who also helping me with this story :3)  
Let's start the story :D **

* * *

**Kuroshiro Rinnosuke**

Rinnosuke, the silver-hair boy, was walking with his twin, Miyu, to their house.  
"Is this hairstyle better one, Miyu?" asked Rinnosuke to his twin sister.  
Miyu looked at her brother's face carefully while holding it.  
"Yup! You are better with short hair!" replied Miyu with a smile.

"Good! Now..."  
Rinnosuke suddenly stopped after see several Skill-Out in front of them.  
One of the biggest thugs came right in front of him.  
"Nice clothes & chick you have there, buddy~ If you wanna live, left them here"

Rinnosuke let out a sigh while looking at the big buddy.  
"You are the ones who better get out from my way if you guys don't want to beaten to pulp. Dude~" replied Rinnosuke calmly.  
The big guy seems annoyed after hearing it.  
"TAKE THIS!"

He tried to hit Rinnosuke, but the boy stopped it with his right palm.  
"I told you~ I don't want trouble" told Rinnosuke once more as he twisted his attacker's fist.  
The big guy seemed in pain and a large crack sound can be heard  
"GAH! MY HAND!" shouted the thug in pain.

"Don't you think because you're bigger than me, you can blackmail me" replied Rinnosuke calmly as he let the hand go.  
"WHAT YOU DOING TO OUR MAN!" shouted the others as they started surrounding Rinnosuke.  
5 against 1... Even though Rinnosuke lose in numbers, his power is really beyond them even without his special power.  
One by one thug came to him, tried to punch or stab him.  
But, none of them success; In fact, Rinnosuke is the one who wiped them all.

"That will give you guys a good lesson~"

Rinnosuke turned his back. Sawing an opportunity, one of the thugs tried to stab him from behind.  
"TAKE THIS BASTARD!" shouted the thug loudly.  
With his great reflex, Rinnosuke turned back and destroyed the knife into nothing with his left hand.

The thug surprised that Rinnosuke's left hand didn't get any scratch.  
"WHAT THE?" The thug surprised by the turn of the event.  
"Who do you think you are ? You just picked up the worst opponent you can get" responded Rinnosuke as he punched the thug's face.

"Remember my name... Kuroshiro Rinnosuke from 'Lawless'! I'm the guy who you guys don't want to make fight with." added Rinnosuke  
The thugs suddenly show shocked faces after heard Rinnosuke's declaration.  
"L-Law-Lawless?" A thug replied with his voice haltingly.

They ran away after Rinnosuke says 'Go!'  
"Onii-Chan. Is it okay to let every Skill-Out groups realize you already come back?" asked Miyu with a worried tone.  
"It's Okay! If I don't do that, some of them might do the same thing all over again." replied Rinnosuke with calm tone.  
_(I also wanted to meet the current Skill-Out leader)_

Knowing she couldn't change her big brother's mind, Miyu agreed and gave her brother a hug from behind.  
Miyu let out her playful nature "But we have to hurry and back! It almost 12:00 AM."  
Rinnosuke petted his twin's head & messed her hair a bit.  
"Yeah~ Mom will be angry if we play too long" replied Rinnosuke and they walked away from there.

* * *

**Kamijou Touma**

It's late at night. Touma is holding his nose in the empty bathtub. The reason why he holding his nose because he started nose-bleeding. It seemed to be having eaten too many peanuts. Just to be safe, he put away the cellphone he was using at the corner of the tub. The bathroom was Touma's private room, and also his bedroom.

As he get out from his 'bedroom' and go to next room, he looked at another girl who sleeping on his real bed, Index. This "resident" is the biggest problem for the healthy high school student Kamijou Touma. Against the girl who became a "resident" here without a care, Touma locks himself in the bathroom at night to prevent himself from doing something that shouldn't be done. More correctly if he done it, a certain red-haired priest will kill him for sure; that's enough reason for him to not do it.

_(Uu… tissue, tissue.)_

Touma held his nose and opens the door. Index should be asleep by now. All the lights are off. In the weak moonlight, only the outlines of things can be seen. From somewhere far off –probably outside the dorms- comes the sounds of fighting, though it's not very clear when it reached Touma's room.  
Touma's attention went outside briefly, and moved back into the room.

The room is very messy. Magazines and manga that were read halfway through are spread all over the floor. The books on the shelves are messily arranged. A dozen wires are plugged into the TV, connecting it to several gaming consoles. On the glass-surfaced small table is a laptop, and on top of that is a plastic bottle containing a half-finished drink. The bed is next to the wall, and the box of tissues should be somewhere close to the bed… Touma recollected the furniture arrangement and moved across the floor.

When he got to the side of the bed, Touma's foot crushed something. It feels like a cardboard box. After picking it up, he finds it to be a flattened tissue box.

"…Fukou Da! Ah, forget it; even if the tissue's flat, it's still usable."

Even though it would be kind of gross putting tissue that's been stepped on into the nose, he didn't have any other tissues available. Touma sighed as took out a tissue from the flattened box.

At this time, light came in through the window. Touma's dormitory is only two meters away from the one next to theirs; if they turn their lights on, even Touma's room got lit up. Though the curtains are pulled over the window, it couldn't block all the light coming in. The artificial light dimly lights up the room, turning the place where only silhouettes can be seen into one where the color and texture of things can be discerned.  
The scene that Touma sees makes him have some slight breathing problems.

Not far from there, "a certain resident" sleeping peacefully on the bed. The girl probably about 14 to 15; she has long silver hair, and white skin. She's tiny in stature and light in weight, but her body temperature seems to be higher than a normal person's. Even though nothing like cosmetics were applied, her skin still gives off a sweet and light aroma - one of her personal traits. This girl who's wearing only a loose shirt and sleeping soundly is called Index.

The blanket, that covered her before, had been kicked off the bed. The girl who's sleeping on her side and with bent limbs looks like a baby asleep in a mother's abdomen. The bed isn't big to begin with, but for some reason, she's only sleeping in one corner of it. The remaining space is almost like it's been specially left for someone.

_(Uu… it's obvious who that space is for.)_

But he immediately shakes his head. Index's casual actions stem from her trust in Touma- maybe slightly different to actual romantic feelings for Touma.  
The impression she gives people is that of a pure child, without an ounce of adult-ness in her.

Her defenseless way of sleeping, the thought of wanting to sleep in the same bed as him, the lips that faintly open with her breath, the small chest that heaves slightly whenever she breathes, the soft snow-white legs that poke out of her loose shirt…

(…_Uh… how to say this, yes, I know, this is a bit… tempting.)  
_

He shook his head once more as he tried to hold his desire. Touma sweats slightly, and stiffens up. At this time, the regular sound of Index's light snoring stops. She started to twist and turn on the bed, and her breathing becomes more focused. And then, the eyes that were closed opens.

"Mm… mm… Touma?" Index asked while rubbing her eyes.  
"Ah, sorry, did I wake you?"  
"I woke up because it got too bright. Ah, the ones on the other side opened their lights. Opening the lights at this time of night, they really don't think of other people–"

Halfway through the sentence, Index suddenly stopped.  
Just as Touma is getting puzzled, he saw Index starting to check if her clothes are messed up.  
Then, she held her shoulders while sitting on the bed, staring at Touma with a suspicious look.  
"Uh, Touma, I have to ask you: what are you doing here?"  
"What do you mean 'what am I doing here'? I'm just here to try and stop my nose–"

Halfway through, Touma finally realized the current situation.  
Index, who had been asleep, is covered only by a loose shirt, and with her legs daringly left out in the open, now finds Touma with tissues at his nose and other traces of having a nosebleed.

Question no 1 : To a girl that just woke up, what would this situation mean?

Touma felt sweat unnaturally coming out of his palms. He had a very bad feeling about this. The eyes of the girl on the bed started to show signs of anger, which seem to prove the bad feeling's accuracy.

That's right, don't misunderstand, her being defenseless is only because of her trust in Kamijou Touma, and not because she's willing to give everything to Touma. Going into someone else's bed while half-asleep is on a completely different dimension compared to giving one's body to someone else while fully aware of things.

Touma starts mumbling, tried to explain the situation "C-Can I explain ?"  
"Touma." Index cut off Touma's mumble.  
Index's face has a 'first-class expression of danger' that looks like something between crying and being angry, and she asks.  
"Can you swear to our Father in Heaven that you didn't have any thoughts when you saw me sleeping?" as Index continuously stared at Touma.

Her body starts moving to cover her area, but it somehow making Touma more arose 'down there'.  
_(S-Shit! I almost can't hold it anymore!) _thought Touma as he tried to suppress his 'man instinct'.  
Touma could only pretend in an offhandedly manner and say "Ha! What are you saying, little lady? Your sleeping figure don't have any effect to–"  
Before he could finish, Index brutally rushes in, and jumped Touma from her bed before proceeding to gnaw at Touma's head madly.

"You don't feel anything? What do you mean don't have any effect to you? I'm still a girl, and you have none of those kinds of thoughts at all! I still have my pride as a girl! Are you even a normal man?" The girl said with a fiery aura of anger and tears welling up in her eyes. This attack style of hers, speaking while biting down, makes Touma feel even more pain.

"Ah! So that's what you meant! I got it wrong! Sorry, Index Ojou-sama! Actually, after I, Kamijou Touma, saw your sleeping expression, I got excited madly!"  
"Coming back with that now and asking me to believe that is out of question!"  
"No matter what I choose, I'd get bitten right? Dammit! Fukou Da! Is there any more misfortune that wait for me!"

Somehow Touma's predict become true as he fall down with Index above him and he see several books under his bed.  
"Ugh! Don't tell me!" as Touma takes those books and read one of them, 'Summer Vacation Homework Math Problems'.  
Touma suddenly stood up, made Index's bite off and made her fall down to the bed.

Touma looked at the calendar and the clock and what display there '23:59 - **M**onth 8 - **D**ay 30' … NO! It just changed to '00:00 - **M**onth 8 - **D**ay 31'  
After saw that, Touma's thought process completely froze up.  
That's right, homework. Summer vacation homework.

This summer vacation had been very dramatic and fantasy-like for Touma to the point where it's like a show. But in his memories, not one bit of them had dealt with the biggest obstacle: "summer vacation homework"…

He remembered what Rinnosuke asked several hours ago, "Come to think of it, Do you done your duty?"  
He showed a very evil smirk before he left when Touma didn't understand what he was talking about.  
_(So this what he meant? __There's roughly 24 hours left until the end of summer vacation.)_  
What happened next is Touma fall to the ground with a 'Thud'.  
"It is over~ I'm finished! Fukou da~~~"

* * *

**Accelerator**

"Damd that woman! What does she want now?" said Accelerator as he started grumbling and passed several bodies that laying down on the ground, bleeding.

There were also several things like switchblades, batons, tear gas canisters near those bodies.  
Lately, many Skill-Out tried to challenge him… Especially after that news after 'that certain battle', while Accelerator looks at several Skill-Outs in front of him.

Ever since 'that battle' and the news, Accelerator has been attacked from all directions, whether day or night. The legend of the **'Academy City's strongest' **is broken, that's what everyone who attacked him believes. Among the roars, the knives, batons start to swing, but Accelerator ignored them. He lazily let his arms drop, not doing anything, just waiting for the enemy to defeat themselves.

All the forces of the savage youths attacks will be 'redirected' and concentrated on their complicated but weak wrist bones. But like the rest, these people seem to realize something. The moment they failed the first time, they realized that the legend of **'Academy City's strongest'** still exists. The sounds of the savage youths breaking their bones can be heard. They let out cries of agony and roll onto the floor, but Accelerator continues to ignore them.

Accelerator is thinking something while ignoring those Skill-Outs. After that battle with the 'SISTER's and the Railgun, how did Accelerator change?  
Did Accelerator get weaker, or stronger? Or rather, 'that Level 0' … his former friend, did he get weaker, or stronger?

"Hm?"

Accelerator suddenly noticed the commotion surrounding him has disappeared.  
At this moment, he turned his eyes away from the long stretch of the night sky and looks around.  
The people who stubbornly surrounded Accelerator have stubbornly defeated themselves, as they lie peacefully on the dirty ground.  
From the blood splatters, maybe the word 'sleeping' is too much of an understatement, but at least no one died.  
To fight Accelerator head on and still able to remain alive can be considered a miracle in itself.

"Eh...that's not right. If it were the old me, I wouldn't have let off those people who challenged me so easily. I really changed, but how? What's the situation now? What happened?"

Accelerator tilted his head and pondered.

After experiencing battles where he won and lost, a one-sided victory is no longer able to satisfy him — such a conclusion is way too idealistic. Anyone can recall being beaten up happily is most definitely a masochist.

Ignore those thinking, Accelerator noticed a couple in front of him. A boy and a girl, their hair color and height different but their faces are same.  
Twins is the first word that come to Accelerator's mind. It really reminded him a time during those 'Experiment'. But, Accelerator somehow didn't like to remember those events.

Suddenly they heard a sound, "I CAN'T? I CAN'T HAVE...ANY FEELINGS? I AM—A GIRL AFTER ALL...EVEN WITH A BIT OF FEELINGS...I HAVE...MY OWN PRIDE!"  
As it's midnight, this voice could be heard very loudly  
_(What the- Tch...those voices are too annoying.)_  
Accelerator thus 'redirects' this excessive 'noise', the air vibrations away from his ears.  
If he had done that a few seconds later, he would hear the familiar painful cry of 'that Level 0'.

He looked at the twins. He focus on the boy, whose hair color is silver. He smiled for some reason and looked back at Accelerator; The girl, whose hair color is black, immediately dragged the boy from there.

Alone, Accelerator let out a sigh. He needed to go and met someone.

"She gonna complaining if I come too late"

* * *

The research facility Accelerator's entering is rather large.

There are 3 giant warehouse-like buildings in front of him. These buildings are the development facilities of the 'SISTERs', the 20,000 'SISTERs' who were used in the experiment were all nurtured from here. There's a pile of metal platforms in the buildings, and there are numerous cylindrical plastic capsules that are stacked all the way to the ceiling. The place looks like a library shelf that's stacked with books.

Beside the 3 huge buildings, there's a building that's called a research center. It's a 2-store rectangular metal and concrete building, and it is a lot smaller than the nurturing facility. It's hard to imagine that it's the core of the research center and even harder as Accelerator was standing here once more.

There's a visual scanning machine at the door, but Accelerator ignored it. His pass ID must be ineffective now. Accelerator knocks on the door lightly, and the 'impact' gathers at the door, breaking the metal lock precisely.

"Creak..."

With this light sound, the door slowly opens, like some sort of an old Western building. The inside looks more like a computer simulation room than a research center. The machine that's arranged all over the walls and looks like it uses a large cooler is said to be the latest quantum computer, but nobody can tell that it's just some outdated experimental-use tool.

At least it didn't seem like it could replace the 'Tree Diagram's' functions. The numerous screens let out a mysterious light in this windowless room. Large amounts of information continue to be printed out from the printers, and the papers cover the floor. One can only hear the bellowing of the cooling fan.

Though this room doesn't look like it's meant for research, it isn't that much different. If this is used for an evolution experiment on artificial life or for testing a plane model's air resistance, maybe it's to be expected for them to have such a facility.

A woman is sitting in the middle of the research lab.

Before the 'experiment' ended, there were 20+ researchers crammed into this room, but everyone already disappeared. That woman seems to understand this, which is why she's not sitting on the chair, but on the table. She's holding the papers of information that were printed out from the printer, marking on it with a red pen. There's no meaning for courtesy in this room anymore.

"Hm? Ah, you came back, Accelerator. Your ID's still effective for 90 days, so you didn't need to destroy the door."

The woman didn't notice that Accelerator walked into the room, but only lifted up her head and saw Accelerator after her thoughts on the information was interrupted.

Yoshikawa Kikyo.

She's already over 25 years old, but she doesn't have any makeup on her. She's wearing a faded old pair of jeans and a T-shirt that's worn out after it had been washed so many times. Only the white cloak that's draped over the T-shirt is as fresh and white as a new shirt.

"Such a hardworking person. Is it really interesting to read all these?"  
"Not at all. If possible, I really want to ask for your help. Your calculations and analytical ability are rather reliable."  
"It shouldn't be good if I know of the contents of the plan, right?"

The main aim of the 'experiment' is to have 20,000 battles, and let Accelerator go through the plan and eliminate the 20,000 enemies. The skills of an esper can increase through battle, and the final aim of the 'experiment' is to use a controlled growth and let Accelerator level up from a Level 5 to a Level 6.

In that situation, if Accelerator knows too much, maybe the battles won't go on according to the 'plan'. Thus, Accelerator was warned not to touch the data of the 'experiment' if it's unnecessary.

At this moment, Yoshikawa Kikyo looked up from the pile of data and replied, "Don't worry, I'm not checking the simulation figures of the 'Tree Diagram'."  
"What? Do you have enough time to toss the large figures aside and handle everything else? Or have you abandoned the 'experiment'?"

"I suppose when the figures are analyzed completely, you may be at the end of a long life. So as for your question, my answer is a 'yes'. At least for me, the data here is more important than that 'experiment'."

Yoshikawa sounded rather anxious, But Accelerator didn't care at all. Right now, what he wants is the reason why she called him in first place.

Yomikawa showed a smirk and immediately pointed something behind Accelerator.  
"She is the reason" answered Yomikawa as a little girl in the towel appears and looks at Accelerator.  
"Hello! Misaka is here—eh? Yomikawa, this person treat Misaka as something invisible. says Misaka as Misaka tilts her head and tries to fulfill the Misaka style...hm? How many Misaka did Misaka just say? Misaka wonders as Misaka's brain is all confused now."  
"Hold on...did you just call yourself Misaka?"

Accelerator suddenly stopped. The girl in the towel seems rather happy as she walked forward in small steps. However, Accelerator couldn't see her expression, so he couldn't confirm her feeling.  
"Oohh! This person finally acknowledged Misaka's existence, says Misaka as Misaka's feeling proud of it. So the saying 'I think therefore I am' is a lie, since there's somebody else acknowledging Misaka's own existence besides Misaka's own view. Says Misaka as Misaka completely denies her half-understanding of the saying 'I think therefore I am'."

Accelerator let out a sigh and looked at the girl once more.  
"That's enough, shut up and take off that towel that's covering you entirely. Show me your face."  
"Eh? Eh...erm...erm...isn't it too bold for a girl to take off her clothes? This is a little too crazy—that—says Misaka as Misaka confirms it again, are you for real?"  
"..."

"Wah, he's not saying anything at all! Yomikawa, help me! This person is looking extremely serious! Please don't take off this towel because what's underneath isn't suitable to be seen woahhhh..."  
The girl was no longer speaking calmly at the last moment, but it was too late. The towel that was covering the head is pulled down and away.

—Accelerator first sees the face.

She has a similar face as the Radio Noise SISTERs Accelerator is familiar with. However, the 'SISTERs' are all designated at 14 years old, and this girl looks about 10. The girl seems shocked as her eyes widened. This expression is also completely different from the 'SISTERs'.

—Then, it's the shoulders.

The girl's clothes have a rather exposed design. Her body is also like a 10 year old, as her collarbones are extremely slender, looking like they will break anytime soon.

—He then sees the exposed chest.

—And then the exposed abdomen.

—And finally her exposed legs.

"Ah? What's this?—What's the situation now?"

Holding onto the towel, Accelerator's inadvertently froze. If anyone who's familiar with him sees this, they will be frozen up before they start rolling on the floor laughing... just like what Yomikawa trying to do right now.  
"SHUT UP ALREADY!" shouted Accelerator to Yomikawa, who tried to hold her laughter.

Basically, the girl wasn't wearing anything underneath. Maybe the girl couldn't grasp the situation quickly as she is unable to react, as she stood around blankly. Basically, there's a completely naked girl in front of Accelerator.

The girl cried as she demanded for her towel, and Accelerator finally throws that dirty towel back to her. The girl grabs the towel and immediately wraps herself up in the towel discreetly. She then starts to mention the request nobody asked to hear.

"Misaka's serial number is 20001, the last 'SISTER' that was created, says Misaka as Misaka explains everything. Misaka's code name is the easy-to-understand Last Order, and Misaka was used in the 'experiment', says Misaka as Misaka grumbles."

Accelerator realized something after heard what that little girl, Last Order, said.

"20001?"

Yoshikawa immediately smiled at him, "Yeah, That's right. Do you remember how many battles are required for the 'experiment'?"  
"20,000, isn't it?" Accelerator suddenly noticed something.  
"That's right. That child's serial number is 20,001. The child isn't a unit that's to be used in the 'experiment'. Basically, she's a failsafe."  
"And what do you want me to do?" Accelerator asked after heard the explanation.

"You're a key person to the 'experiment', Misaka's body and personality is incomplete, so she's really unstable. If possible, Misaka hopes that Misaka can enter the incubator again and complete the process. But before Misaka enter the incubator, Misaka wanted to go outside first. Explains Misaka as Misaka puts two hands together, tilts her head and give a cute look as she begs you."

"Find someone else or rather why not Yoshikawa! Don't call me!"  
"WAH! A QUICK REFUSAL! Exclaims Misaka as Misaka gives up. But Misaka has no other people to rely on, so Misaka will never give up."  
"_... Fuck_" as Accelerator face-palmed himself

Accelerator sighed and thought, what's with her?

He's a killing monster. Over 10,000 SISTER clones that were created from Misaka Mikoto's genes were killed by him. The 'SISTERs' can share a common memory through their brains, so this 'Last Order' should be clear about that.

Maybe Last Order doesn't have any neural link functions because she's incomplete? Besides, there's another suspicious point. The 'SISTERs' personalities are of a learning type, but Last Order's personality is a whole lot different from the 'SISTERs'. However, by looking at the 'SISTERs' personalities, it's hard to tell which are 'incomplete'.

Accelerator's feeling irritated by the girl in front of him who's trying to act all familiar with him, thinking that since the 'SISTERs' in the 'experiment' have nothing to do with his safety, the girl in front of him should be like them

"It might explain why she is the failsafe" said Accelerator as he started grumbling.  
"And why must me?" asked Accelerator.  
"I wanted you to take care her for a while, this girl is too energetic and 'the problems' on my hand are quite important, and I can't let her go without a guard. I will explain all of this later" replied Yoshikawa.

"Alright, whatever..." replied Accelerator unconsciously.

The little girl and the woman seemed happy after heard Accelerator's reply while Accelerator himself started wondering why he agreed with this 'babysitting job' in first place.

* * *

**_August 31st 2:35 P.M._**

On August 31st, there was almost no one on the roads.

As 80% of the population here are students, most of the people are holed up in their dorms, frantically trying to wrestle with their holiday homework. However, Accelerator and Last Order didn't have these issues to wrestle with. He brought the young girl down the almost empty streets. The girl, wore a blue spotted dress with a white coat and sandals, walked beside the white hair boy now.

_(That Yoshikawa should give her those things first before she met me)_ thought Accelerator as he remembered what happened last night.  
Last night, he came to that place and met both of them.  
Yoshikawa and this little brat, Last Order.

For unknown reason and his stupid reply, he ended babysitting this little child until this night.  
This annoying brat is very energetic, no wonder Yoshikawa couldn't handle her.  
She is also very talkative, even when she slept at his 'mess-up by someone' place yesterday.  
_(Just what Yoshikawa doing now?)_ Thought Accelerator, he is quite curious about the paper that Yoshikawa held that time.

"Is your hair color natural? Asks Misaka as Misaka tries to ask."  
Last Order asked Accelerator just as they approach a certain restaurant-chain shop.  
"What?" as Accelerator replies her with annoyed tone.  
"Your hair, Misaka points her finger at the hair. A normal person's hair can't be purely white, says Misaka as Misaka raises her suspicions. And your red eyes don't seem normal in a biological sense, says Misaka as Misaka tilts her head, feeling extremely puzzled."

Though he can just ignore her question, she may continue to rattle on if she does that, so Accelerator just decides to answer her question. After eating, he can just send this girl to the researchers or leave her on the streets. Thinking that he only needs to endure for a little longer, he can at least endure this trivial thing.

"This isn't natural. Maybe this is a side effect of my powers. I don't really understand it though. Whether it's my skin, hair or eyes, all the 'pigments' on my body exist to protect my body from UV rays, but my powers can 'redirect' any unwanted UV rays, so my body itself doesn't need pigments."

Even Accelerator is feeling rather surprised that he can be this talkative. He often said some mocking words in the 'experiment'; seems like he can really be quite talkative.  
"Oh, I see, says Misaka as Misaka is somewhat surprised. So Misaka Misaka finds that Accelerator can still be talked with."  
"What in the world do you mean by that? Speaking of which, it's not a good thing to have powers too strong. The outside influence is too little, it seems to cause a loss of balance in the hormones, causing me to have this androgynous appearance."

"So are you a guy or a girl? Asks Misaka as Misaka tries to uncover the truth."  
"Can't you tell?"  
As Accelerator said this, he starts to feel disbelief in regards to his own actions.  
Looking at his past thought process now, the conversation he's having with Last Order is already an anomaly in itself. Of course, Accelerator's a member of this society, and he's not so savage that he would kill everyone he meets, but he never had the experience of talking to the 'SISTERs' so successfully.

Normally, a conversation in the 'experiment' often goes like this.

_"- Yes, Misaka's serial number is 10032, Misaka responds. However, in order to confirm that you're the person involved in this experiment, Misaka suggests a code confirmation."_

_"- Misaka can't understand such a vague term like 'a few ideas', Misaka responds. There are still 3 minutes and 20 seconds left to the start of the 'experiment'. Are you ready? Misaka tries to confirm."_

-That couldn't be a conversation with an ordinary person. It's like they were emotionless robots who're just answering the questions. And Accelerator himself just said this,

_"-Sigh, it's really troublesome to say the same thing 10,000 times. I wanted to add something refreshing, but seems like it won't work, I can't get to you."_

From the beginning, he never felt that he could communicate successfully with the 'SISTERs'. Until the end, he really never managed to do so.

However, it seems like 'the battle with that Level 0' did really change him, Accelerator thought.  
The problem is, 'what' changed?  
Why?  
What did it change?

"Hello? Hello hello hello? Misaka asks as Misaka tries to say hello to you? Your eyes are blank, are you thinking of anything? Asks Misaka as Misaka stares intently at your face."  
Last Order raised her arms and swings them around wildly while remaining expressionless, and Accelerator ignores her as he lifts his head up to look at the afternoon sky.  
He finally managed to communicate.  
'Something' invisible is changing.

* * *

**Misaka Mikoto**

_**August 31st 8:00 A.M.**_

Let's we shift our eye to another place...

Tokiwadai Middle School, a famous girls' school that's ranked among the top five schools in the city. Focusing on only raising elite students, the student numbers do not even reach 200. In the school, there are two Level 5 ESPers and forty-seven Level 4 ESPers. Also worthy of note is that one of the entry requirements for Tokiwadai Middle School is "Level 3 ESPers or above".

Even during summer vacation, the morning life doesn't change in the Tokiwadai dorms: wake up at seven in the morning, clean up to the level of "it doesn't look too bad" within thirty minutes, roll call in the dining hall at seven-thirty, and finish breakfast by eight o'clock.

What's mentionable is the reason the dorms let students have until eight to finish breakfast: Tokiwadai Middle School encourages students to take the school bus. The deadline before being late is 8:20 AM, so if one doesn't take the bus, they would have to sprint full-speed on the way to school.

Today is August 31st; because it's still summer vacation, after 8 AM and aside from dinner, curfew, and lights-out time, students have leisure time. All across the world, students are now hurrying to finish their summer homework, but at Tokiwadai Middle School, that feeling of anxiety cannot be felt in the slightest.

Misaka Mikoto, one of the Level 5 ESPers, is sitting in the majestic and ridiculously spacious dining room, spreading her arms out and yawning widely. Even though it's summer vacation, she's still in uniform. According to Tokiwadai's school rules, the dorms are still part of the school, so students are forbidden from wearing casual clothing inside the dorms. Mikoto has shoulder-length hair, a stubborn look, and a mouth that won't stop for twenty minutes once she starts talking.

All of which are traits that are far from the "Ojou-sama" stereotype. Then again, these aren't traits that belong solely to Mikoto; the other female students around her that had finished breakfast, are still sitting there, and are chatting with each other are, as a whole, giving the same impression.

Mikoto suddenly remembered something, and stood up from her chair. Every Monday and Wednesday is when Mikoto stands at a corner store, and reads manga magazines. Something worth mentioning is that she doesn't know that her reading them makes a lot of high school students only able to buy magazines with the edges all messed up.

Normally, she goes to the corner store and reads manga only after school, but it's summer vacation, so she can go and do it now. Mikoto wants to know who the culprit is in a manga that has a closed-room murder all the time, so she hurries and leaves early. Just when Mikoto is about to head off, a girl in a maid outfit who is gathering the cutlery discovers her intentions.

This girl is a middle school student for some home economics school working in the Tokiwadai Middle School girls' dorm for the purpose of gaining work experience. Practical work for the home economics school varies widely, and those that can get in to the Tokiwadai girl's dorms are supposedly the finest of the finest.

"Misaka, Misaka! Are you going to the corner store or the book shop?" as a maid communicate with her.  
"Today's not the 10th, and it's a Monday, so it's the corner store. And Tsuchimikado, your role here is that of a practicing maid, after all; shouldn't you not be talking to me so familiarly?" replies Mikoto.  
"Misaka, Misaka! If you're going to the corner store, then buy a kinda strange manga for me- the kind of shoujo manga that's not R-18, but still has lurid descriptions. You know that kind of manga where the brother and sister get into a messy relationship."

"Wouldn't that count as seinen manga and not shoujo, then? And, Tsuchimikado, your role here is that of a practicing maid, after all; shouldn't you not be admitting that you like your own brother?"  
Misaka sighs, and walks out of the dining hall, past the excessively long corridor, and towards the main door. She comes across no one else as most of the students, after eating breakfast, are staying in the dining hall chatting.

Misaka goes to the entrance hall, and opens the huge front doors.

From the student dorms and heading outside, the view changes from an old western-style building to the street in a near-future fashion. There are no power lines; replacing them are wind power generator propellers at the end of every corner. Barrel-shaped security robots that automatically patrol the streets come and go everywhere. A zeppelin with giant screens on its belly floats across the sky. The views of this "city" are different from those of a normal city, but for the residents here, it's already very familiar, and they can no longer tell the difference between the two.

Right across the student dorms that look like a western-style stone building is an "open 24 hours" general store. The difference between the two makes Mikoto smile slightly. Just when Mikoto is about to take a step onto the road… from the side suddenly comes a man's voice.

"Misaka-san?"  
"Uu!" Mikoto instantly stiffens, tries to hide the look of "met up with somebody extremely troublesome" on her face, and turns towards the direction of the voice.

In front of her is someone older than Mikoto by one year, a tall and slim man but has the body build of a sportsman. He has hair smooth and fine and, unlike a Japanese person, skin so white. Moreover, his face almost always has a warm smile… he's that kind of person.

_(Oh shit! Why he must come at time like this?)_ thought Misaka as she almost scream.  
But, she hid her reaction immediately.

Unabara Mitsuki.

One of the people that Mikoto finds hard to handle, the grandson of the director of Tokiwadai Middle School. In Academy City, where the main goal is "ESPer ability development", the power of that position is like that of the ruling family of a major corporation. Tokiwadai Middle School is a girls' school, so Unabara Mitsuki can't enter the school grounds or the dorms, but he's free to roam about everywhere else.  
The reason Mikoto labels him as a troublesome person isn't because he's someone who likes to show off his influences, though.

"Hmm, even though you're not in a club, focusing on personal hobbies isn't bad. Misaka-san, what kind of sports do you like? I may be able to give some pointers… eh? Are you alright? Are you feeling well?" asked Unabara  
"Ah… It's… it's nothing." replies Mikoto

From Unabara's tone, he really seems to be worried; Mikoto couldn't help but give a small sigh.  
Unabara Mitsuki understands clearly what kind of enormous influence he can bring about, yet he never shows it off. He always deliberately matches Mikoto's values, talking to Mikoto as an equal. To Mikoto, the kind of "mature" personality that gauges the situation between the two makes her feel rather uncomfortable. But since the other party is using a "mature" way to get close to her, she can't just deal with him the same way she does with the usual high school student and fire off a bolt of electricity as a response because that would make her feel like an immature child.

What makes Mikoto feel like Unabara's hard to handle is that while meeting together, she always has to be careful and prudent. The mood doesn't feel like a meeting between friends, but rather like fawning to a senpai at a school club.  
Then again, this guy wasn't so bothersome until a week ago when he started coming to her on a daily basis… They say summer changes men… BUT! This is a disagreeable way to change.

Carefully thinking about it, in the past, they were only at a level where they would greet each other if they meet while walking past each other. They might stand together and chat, but they wouldn't interfere with each other's plans. Now is different; he's become really aggressive- almost like he's tracking Mikoto's every move.

_(Uu, uu, what to do, what to do? Ah, right, I'll just pretend I already have a date with some other guy! In that case, no __matter what he says, he can't really stick to me like this. Even though it's old-fashioned, fine, I'll just grab a guy, say __something like "Sorry, did you wait long?", and improvise something to fake it through. Even though it'll give that unlucky guy some trouble, I'll treat him to a canned drink later, and that'll do!)_

Mikoto looked around, trying to find a guy to play along with her act. However, today just has to be August 31st. In Academy City where 80% of the residents are students, today is "a day to stay at home and rush to complete the rest of the remaining summer homework".

In other words, there wasn't anyone in sight.  
"What are you thinking about, Misaka-san?"  
1 minute, 15 minutes, 30 minutes already passed, but Mikoto didn't reply any of Unabara's questions.

_(Uwah… Is there no hope left?) _the Mikoto in her heart once again cries out in anguish. In this instant, almost like a gift from the heaven (?), three boys walk out from a corner and towards them. Too bad for her, these three aren't the kind of boys that she would hope for.

* * *

**Kamijou Touma**

_**August 31st 8:30 A.M.**_

_(Tsuchimikado Motoharu, Aogami Pierce... why from all people I must meet them?) _cursed Touma to himself as he ended with them.

For the Touma now, he originally shouldn't have time to wander around on the streets. Before today, August 31st, his summer homework had been a complete blank. The him now could be said to be in a state in which every second is of the utmost importance.

Touma, who had sunk into homework hell now, had reasoned that this would be a long-term battle that would last to tomorrow morning.  
He had gone to the corner store to try and buy some canned coffee. But today, the brand that he normally buys had just gotten sold out, with not one can left.

Just when Touma had been thinking about which bastard had taken all the stickers that could be traded in for free stuff for himself, he got caught by Aogami and Tsuchimikado. The two classmates who had already finished all their homework wanted to play hard on the last day of summer vacation and make some good memories. With these two, Touma could feel that he would never finish his homework.

"Aaaaaaaaah! Today's already the last day of summer vacation, Kami-yan! *Sigh* and this year, there's been no encounters with any girls that fell from the sky, no finding of a catgirl in a cardboard box on a rainy day, nor even a meeting with a beautiful fiancée behind our doors that we never knew was engaged to us. It's an incredibly normal summer vacation, the kind that novels describe with only one line: 'That high school student had a summer vacation.'" says Aogami Pierce, who is being a pessimist now, in a fake Kansai accent.

"Ah, I want to be in love! Even though we're in a co-ed school, I still want the new semester to be like one of those enviable love comedies where senpai, kouhai, teacher, students, class rep, childhood friends, and dorm manager are all girls who have no experience with boys!" says Tsuchimikado Motoharu, as an optimist, in a peculiar tone.

Facing the two and their completely unrealistic views, Touma holds his head with his hands, and cries out in anguish.  
"Oi, oi, you two, don't tell me you guys knew that **I**, Kamijou Touma, am putting my life on the line rushing to do my summer homework, and came to disturb me because of that? Please don't disturb me today! If you guys are my friends, then help me with my summer homework!"

"Just leave it! Everyone's live is depending on your state of homework." say both of them at same time.  
Facing the two classmates who obviously view someone else's misfortune as a joke and kept talking about type of girls like there is no end, Touma involuntarily shows a dark smile.  
"You two, you have no right to call yourselves friends! What's this 'Onee-sama', 'Imouto', 'A girl who suddenly appeared'? Do the girls you like all belong to an aviators' group or something!"  
Aogami Pierce's switch triggered after heard that statement; Touma face-palmed himself when he realized his mistake.

"Ha, you're too naïve, Kami-yan. I have a wide range of acceptance when it comes to women: not just fallen female main characters but also foster sisters, foster mothers, foster daughters, twins, widows, senpais, kouhais, fellow classmates, teachers, childhood friends, ojousamas, blondes, brunettes, brown-haired, silver-haired, long-haired, medium-haired, short-haired, girls wearing bobby pins, wavy-haired, twintails, ponytails, one-sided ponytails, twin braids, ahoges, curly-haired, girls in sailor clothes, blazers, judogi, kyuudougi,…"

While Aogami was listing his girls' type, Touma begged Tsuchimikado.  
"C-mon! Let me copy your homework!" begged Touma.  
"NO! Like I said before… Everyone's live is depending on your state of homework, even mine Nya~" replied Tsuchimikado.

"… kindergarten nurses, maids, policewomen, witches, shrine maidens, nuns, military women, secretaries, lolis, shotas, tsunderes, cheerleaders, stewardesses, waitresses, goth girls wearing black, goth girls wearing white, girls in China dresses, frail girls, albino girls, fantasists, girls with split personalities, queens, princesses, thigh-high socks, garterbelts, girls who cross-dress as guys, girls who wear glasses, girls who wear an eyepatch, girls who wear bandages, girls in school swimsuits, one-piece swimsuits, bikinis, V-shaped bikinis, bikinis that barely cover anything, youkai, ghosts, animal-eared girls, etc.- any female is within my area of acceptance." as Aogami finally stop.

"At least one of them isn't a female, right?"  
Touma said this with his last ounce of strength, as he can't take much more of this. Then, Tsuchimikado, with a peculiar smile on his face, asks, "Then again, what kind of girls does Kami-yan like?"  
"…Dorm manager onee-san - even temporary ones will do." replies Touma.  
Before Tsuchimikado tried to say a word, Touma continued,

"Even I know that's impossible in reality! I'm an only child, so of course I'd admire 'Onee-san'-type girls! Get off my case, you two!"  
"Hm, so you like manager 'oneesans', huh? Does that mean you have no feelings for imouto-type girls, then? Seriously, basic characters like imouto-types are the best ones."

Tsuchimikado, who has an actual younger foster sister nods enthusiastically.  
At this point, both Touma and Aogami Pierce looked at him with pity.  
Touma, as the representative for his friends, stated "I say this as your friend, for the foster-sibling relationship between the two of you to last, there's something you need to know."

"Wh… What?"  
"Your younger foster sister is someone who calls anyone she meets 'Oniichan'"  
"Im… impossible! My younger sister, no matter the time, place, or reason, would never call any man other than me 'Oniichan'!"

They kept walking and passed 'someone who need their help'.

"Really? The day before yesterday, in front of the station at the underground department store, I treated her to a meal at a restaurant there, and she said to me 'Thank you, Oniichan'." says Touma  
"Yesterday, I met her on that street back there, and she said to me 'Good afternoon, Oniichan', too." added Aogami.

With a crash of something being snapped, from the mouth of Tsuchimikado comes the sound of something being bitten apart.  
"I'll kill you both! How dare you try to get your hands on my younger sister!"  
As the fiery fist of an older brother ready to strike at Kamijou Touma and Aogami Pierce.  
But something stop it, or rather someone stopped it.

"Sorry, did you wait long?"

A girl's voice from behind made Touma and the other two manages to delay their battle, with their faces showing impatience from the interruption.  
Of course none of them had promised to meet up with a girl, so they're all bitterly thinking, _(Oh, is there a pretty boy idol around here or something? Either way, it has nothing to do with us, bastard!)_

But after thinking about it, today is **August 31st**, and there should be nobody else around here.  
"?" Just as Touma tilts his head in uncertainty and turned back  
"I asked you if you waited long; did you not hear me!"  
Touma's stomach, around the level of his waist, is slammed by a girl charging at full speed.  
After a loud boom, Touma and the girl both go rolling along the footpath.

* * *

**Kuroshiro Rinnosuke**

_**August 31st 10:00 A.M.**_

A silver-hair boy is standing in front of several knock-down Skill-Outs inside an alley.  
Repairing his glasses' position, Rinnosuke asked one of the Skill-Outs, "Oi you guys! Tell me where the current Skill-Outs leader is!"  
But, he get no reply because the Skill-Out already fainted.  
Throwing him away , someone came from another side of the alley.

"Rinnosuke! Don't make my trouble piling up!" shouted a short-black hair boy as he got into the alley.  
He is wearing his school-uniform and Judgment armband.  
"Osu Kei! Why you are here?" replied Rinnosuke with his smirk.  
"You know it, don't you? Why you must give me another problem to my job!" shouted Kei back as his anger veins showed up.

Rinnosuke looked at his friend once more with a sharp eyes.  
"What you trying to say?" asked Rinnosuke with more colder tone.  
Kei started sweating after saw current Rinnosuke, so he decided to shut his mouth now.

Rinnosuke decided to sit on top of the Skill-Outs that he defeated.  
"How's your day when 'we all' separated" asked Rinnosuke with calm voice.  
Kei let out a sigh and shook his head.  
"I see... Seems higher-ups really inspected you guys… huh?" confirmed Rinnosuke as he realized a couple near there.

Kei realized Rinnosuke's curious look and wanted to know what make Rinnosuke like that.  
He turned his head back and saw Touma and Mikoto, who were panting for some reason.  
"What's going on?" asks Kei but Rinnosuke shut his mouth and they started hiding.  
"What do you want to do?" asked Kei, but Rinnosuke replied his question with a smirk.  
"Here we go again~" says Kei and he lets out a sigh, sign of his defeat.

* * *

Touma and Mikoto had run through the streets for an hour.  
"Wait a sec! Isn't this setting a bit strange! Why did we have to run nonstop for an hour?"  
"Shut up! Be quiet! Give me some time to think this through!" Mikoto cries out as she shakes her head vigorously.

Touma looks around.  
They're apparently at a side road, tall buildings all around them, with another smaller building seeming to be another student dorm.  
Mikoto takes several deep breaths before finally calming down.

"Whoo… Sorry, I kind of lost control back there. Let's find some place to sit, and I'll tell you the current situation."  
"Ah? What current situation? Hey, did you just drag me into something troublesome again?" asked Touma while he started remembering what happened one hour ago.

**ONE HOUR AGO**

"D, Dammit, who the hell did this to me!" shouted Touma, who slammed by someone,  
"…(What do you mean by why does it have to be me! Ah… no, anyway, please play along!)"  
Touma recognized this sound, he looked at the source and his eyes spread wide open.  
"(M-Misaka?)"

On the other hand, Aogami Pierce and Tsuchimikado's reply is…  
"What? Ka… Kami-yan got hugged by a Tokiwadai student! After a miko, a nun, and Komoe-sensei, there's another new Kami-yan legend!"  
"…Kami-yan, just how many hidden female characters do you have in your route, nya~"

The thoughts of the two made Mikoto shake all over in anger. But she didn't make any reply; her actions had been completely different from her usual demeanor. This also managed to surprise Touma for some reason.

Mikoto stared off somewhere, and softly clenched her fists. A puzzled Touma followed her line of sight. Standing slightly further away on the footpath and looking slightly lonely was a cool-type boy. He didn't know how to react to Mikoto's sudden and mysterious act, and froze.

"Get off already!" asked Touma; he looks impatient on the outside, but his heart is pounding furiously. Both of them stand up and Touma looked at Mikoto, who seemed different for some reason. After a deep breath, Mikoto yells,

"Ahaha! Sorry I'm late! Did you wait long? To pay you back, I'll treat you to something, so please forgive me!"

Mikoto, who's speaking loudly. Kamijou Touma, who's speechless. For Tsuchimikado and Aogami Pierce, time really does stop for them on this occasion. And the cool-type boy standing over there embarrassingly moves his gaze away.

Suddenly, *Bang*, all the windows of the Tokiwadai Girls' Middle School Dorm are opened simultaneously.

Mikoto's smile froze. The students, who were standing next to the windows, were continuously whispering excitedly to each other.  
The girl with twin ponytails, Shirai Kuroko, was in a state of shock.  
She looked so pale, her mouth opening and closing but with nothing coming out.

After a while, a mature woman's silhouette showed up in one of the windows- apparently the dorm's highest manager.  
Another woman also showed up from another window, It's the Dorm Manager that Touma met before.  
_(I'M DEAD! I'M DEAD!)_ shouted Mikoto inside her mind, imaging what worse thing could happen after this.

The mature woman (Dorm's Highest Manager) seemed to be saying something, though the voice was too quiet and the distance too far away. Touma and Mikoto couldn't hear her at all, but the two can imagine in their heads what the frightful statement is:

"Interesting, you dare to rendezvous in front of the dorm with a boy. That's some courage, Misaka."

"Ah… ahaha!" Mikoto's face was contorted. "Ahahahaha! Uhuhuhuhu!"  
Mikoto let out a strangled laughter, grabbed Kamijou's hand, and left the scene at a speed that's literally equal to that of flight.  
Touma, who has no idea what's going on, was dragged further and further away by Mikoto.

"Kami-yan so lucky~ DAMN THAT LUCKY BASTARD!" shouted Aogami, who saw Touma dragged away by Mikoto.  
While Tsuchimikado looked at Unabara and realized something.  
"Oi Aogami! Let's move!" as Tsuchimikado tried to get away, but he realized they were in front of Tokiwadai School dorm.  
_(Maybe later)_, thought Tsuchimikado, who wanted to see his little sister.


	9. 3 Way Arc - The Fake Date

Thanks to everyone who always supports me and my stories. Sorry that I lately not update this work... I have so much university assignment to do. Time to pay my mistake... Please enjoy my work

Thanks to Fuji92 for his beta reading help

* * *

**Kuroshiro Rinnosuke**

**August 31st 10:30 A.M.**

"That's it? That's what they are doing? C'mon you gotta be kidding me" grumbled Rinnosuke  
Kei let out a sigh and found 'this spying action' feels so stupid. Why?  
First, 30 minutes wasted to see Touma and his Tokiwadai girl.  
Second, He stuck with Rinnosuke  
And The most important thing, there is no single interesting event that happened between Touma and the girl.

"I think Touma get caught in a fake date and he didn't finish his homework yet..." guessed Kei; At same time, Touma sneezed but he don't understand why it's happened. Rinnosuke kept looking at the couple while saying " 'That dense porcupine' need some extra push... I think"

Kei looked at him with a poker face and said "C'mon... Don't waste your energy as simple as that."

Rinnosuke looked at Kei back and thought something "You are maybe... right..." Kei kept watching the couple and starts yawning "Oh well... I need to do my job now. See you later!" Kei immediately left Rinnosuke with some bills. Rinnosuke kept his calm side and watching the couple once more. He only see some stupid comedy that created by those two and Touma, who focused on a paper.

"Hee~~ Don't tell me, he really not make it at all" said Rinnosuke to himself as he knew what paper that made Touma work with worried face. Just as he tried to leave . Rinnosuke saw a boy, who come to Touma after Mikoto left Touma to buy something. There is a weird feeling about the boy that make Rinnosuke decided to stay there. (_There's only one way to find it out)_

* * *

**Kamijou Touma**

**August 31st 10:30 A.M.**

¥2000... Touma starts wondering what he could do with the money as he kept watching the price of the hotdog. Seriously, he can use the money of something more useful than buying a hotdog. "2000 yen… Just what do they put in it that makes it this expensive?"

"If they told you, can they keep the business going? Ah, two hotdogs, please." Mikoto says while ordering the food. Touma looks at the movements of the vendor. The bread and the ingredients don't differ much from normal ones, and he couldn't see anything especially strange added in. To be brutally honest, if the hotdog here was compared to another vendor's, there probably wouldn't be any difference. The slightly small hotdog can't even be called a proper meal- at most, just a small snack.

As the short-in-cash student, Kamijou Touma feels this store is trying to rob him. Sure, Mikoto said to him to not worry since she is the one, who pay for these. But, that is some kind of punch to Touma's heart. He meant C'mon... Is it supposed to be the boy be the one who pay the bill. Touma carefully observes the hotdog and then takes a bite out of it. However, he can't really taste the difference between this one and one from any other store. _This is a robbery_, thinks Touma as he shows his unhappy face.

Mikoto looks at Touma and finally explains why she need Touma. She wanted to get rid this Unabara guy that kept bugging her for some weeks and Touma was the only choice available for her. Sure, comparing to Tsuchimikado or Aogami, he is indeed the best guy... but... WHY HIM? Seriously... if the plan succeeds, some people will see him as "a total bastard that goes after middle school students" It's quite high probability since Tsuchimikado and Aogami watched it LIVE.

(_They probably spread the rumor by now)_

But there also another thing and the most important one, he still has his summer homework to do. Due these reasons, Kamijou Touma really wants to refuse helping Mikoto, but if he make Mikoto really gets annoyed over this, he won't only not have time to do his homework but will also be forced into a 24-hour Ironman endurance battle

Seeing Touma keep silent, Mikoto feels discontented, and says, "Oi, if you have any questions or thoughts, then say them already." Touma looked at Mikoto's face and says "Thoughts, huh…? First, rub the mustard off your nose before we talk"

Mikoto suddenly blushes bright-red. She wraps up the hotdog with a paper towel, puts it on the bench and turns away. She takes out her handkerchief, hastily trying to rub the mustard off the tip of her nose. Suddenly she kicks her legs furiously. Apparently, she rubbed too quickly and accidentally got mustard inside her nose.

"Ah… are you alright?" asked Touma as he imitates Mikoto, wrapping up his hotdog in the same way and putting it down on the bench, before using his now-free hands to search his pockets, looking for whether he has tissues or handkerchiefs. At this point, Mikoto strains a smile, and says, "I'm… I'm alright. Actually, nothing happened... Or rather... any questions or thoughts?"

"This is so like you, crying over something this small. You actually cry a lot, don't you…?" says Touma as he chuckles. Mikoto looked so angry and shouted at him "Shut up! I said nothing happened, so nothing happened! Oi, don't put up a resigned face and approach me with that tissue!" Mikoto looks viciously at Kamijou Touma, so he hurriedly retrieves his hands.

Fine, if she wants me to forget this, I'll just pretend this never happened. says Touma to himself as he tries to grab one of the hotdogs on the table. He involuntarily lets out a slight sound. In the small space between Touma and Mikoto are two tidily wrapped hotdogs. Needless to say, it is their hotdogs, but which one belonging to who can't be distinguished.

Mikoto also notices this. "Eh… Do you remember which one was yours?" Touma just shook his head. Without much thought, Touma goes for right one. At this time, Mikoto grabs Touma with surprising speed.

"Wait… wait a minute, let me check." Before Touma could reply, Mikoto grabs the one in Touma's hand off him and compares the two of them. She peels the paper towel away and looks carefully at the bitten parts. However, there isn't much difference between the two. Both hotdogs were half-eaten, so there's no difference in size. The ingredients for both were the same too.

"Did you figure it out?"

"…"

"Did you figure it out?"

"…"

"Did you-"

"Ahh, I don't know! Fine, as you said, you take the right and I'll take the left! Seriously, you should at least care about this a little, baka!"

Touma takes the hotdog from a babbling Mikoto, tilting his head in puzzlement. "*Sigh* Didn't we order the same thing?" He then bites into the hotdog as if nothing's wrong. Of course, there isn't any change in the taste either. Mikoto, who until a while ago was still making a fuss, suddenly becomes quiet. For some reason, even her movements freeze up. It can't be help, since she is more sensitive in this kind of things.

"What's wrong?" asked Touma. "Nothing," Mikoto answers. Then after staring at her hotdog for a while, she finally nibbles into it like a small animal. Her face seems to blush slightly. Touma immediately bring back the topic they said to each other before "Okay... You are asking my thoughts about fooling 'this Unabara' by becoming a couple, 'But what do we have to do to act like a couple?'"

"…"

"…"

Misaka Mikoto and Kamijou Touma have completely no idea what to do next. It's not by doing something that two people become a couple, but that a true couple, no matter what they are doing, appears as a true couple; the inexperienced duo here apparently have no idea regarding that. On other side, their watchers let out sighs.

* * *

In the end, Kamijou and Mikoto decide to sit there and chat. However, the place is empty of people. It because most students are hurrying to finish their summer homework. The only one that can see the two of them talking is probably the hotdog vendor. The "let as many people see us as possible" part of the plan is failing miserably, 'Totally wrong time and place' from what one can see. With 0 topics, Touma started asking what happened to Sisters and Mikoto asking Touma about Index's condition.

"We started de-railing from what we suppose to talk about, do we?" said Mikoto as she sneaks a glance at Touma's face, only to see a bored-face guy, who take out a pile of folded paper from his pockets. At a closer look, it seems to be a paper on old Japanese. He takes out an automatic pencil and starts doing the questions.

"…Oi, do you understand the situation now? How do we look like a couple right now? Just studying and leaving the girl at the side, do you think this is male-dominant medieval Europe or something?"

"Sigh, alright, alright, the Irewa Mikoto's so moe~" (**Note**: Irewa is a term used in Japanese fandom used to describe plants, animals, or non-living things as a human, mostly as kawaii girls)

"So by 'Irewa', you mean you never took me as a human?" as some sparks show up, Touma's brain starts working and he explained to Mikoto about his summer homework "L-Let's ... treat this as a study session between couples, then! Honestly speaking, I haven't even finished one section of my summer homework, this next 24-hour period is like a homework hell for me!"

"What's summer homework?" asked Mikoto and that managed to make Kamijou Touma speechless. He ever heard that Tokiwadai School actually not have a thing like summer homework. "Uu, that's not fair, why does Tokiwadai have such freedom?" as Touma felt so sad and started cursing his fate.

"How should I know?" Mikoto shrugs off all responsibility with that one sentence. "By the way, What kind of stuff do you get for summer homework?" Touma looked at her and replied "You can have a look if you want, but these are questions for a high school student; a middle school student like you won't understand it." Mikoto just pushed Touma and said "Just let me see already!"

Touma offhandedly looks aside at Mikoto before hurriedly leaning back from her. Mikoto, who leaned over to try and see his homework, is almost touching him cheek-to-cheek. "Oh, is this for old Japanese? Though it looks like it's only simple revision." Mikoto doesn't seem to realize this. She then takes the pencil and starts writing down the answers, almost completely leaning on Kamijou Touma while doing so. He smells a slight faint scent of shampoo from her.

_(Uwaa… Not… Not good! I don't know why, but this isn't good!)_

No matter which part of his body he moves, he'd end up in contact with Mikoto's body. Touma stiffens up to the point where he can't move. After a while, he finally notices something. "…Eh? How come you know how to do this?"

"How come you don't?" Mikoto answers as if it's only natural, without any negative overtones in her comment. The boy himself involuntarily has a sudden urge to cry and run away from her. Mikoto puts her hands on Touma's shoulders, smiles gently and says, "Don't worry, everyone has something they're not good at. Ah, right! I'll finish these questions for you in return for dragging you into this."

"As a high school student, I'm getting tutored by a middle school student… I already failed as human being" as Touma's depress mode is getting more and more intense. "Ah… ahaha. Uwaaaa, you're looking really sad about it. Do you want a drink to change the pace? I'll go get some, and after that, we can keep going with the homework."

Touma looked at her and said "Ah? If we're going to buy some drinks, shouldn't I be the one that goes? Let me go walk around a bit to change the pace- not to mention I still owe you 2000 yen."

"If I said I'll go, then I'll go; if these small matters get refused, it gets kind of awkward, right?" Mikoto smiles halfheartedly while getting up from the bench, and runs off, leaving Touma alone. It doesn't look like there are vending machines around here, so maybe she's going to the nearest general store or something.

_(We're basically just eating and drinking constantly, huh? Fukou da...)_

Touma looks at the direction where Mikoto ran off to before lowering his head and staring at the old Japanese homework again. To be honest, in Touma's eyes, the Japanese on the paper looks no different from English. What far more worse is the fact Mikoto answered it for him. Such unlucky guy...

Suddenly, Touma remembered Index. He left her alone in the student dorms. She shouldn't be hungry since the kitchen has some food that doesn't need to be cooked before being eaten. But knowing Index, she would probably just wait for Touma to get back, and not do anything. While trying to pull his hair for all mess that happened today, he started regretting his decision to hang out with Tsuchimikado and Aogami.

_(Uu, in the direct sunlight of summer, it's probably worse out here than inside. Ahh, come to think of it, what am I going to do about my summer homework?)_

Touma looks up and stares at the sun with an expression like a slowly drying potted plant. What will happened to him tomorrow if he not finished this homework. "Fukou Da..."

At this time, a familiar face shows up next to him. Unabara Mitsuki. The person that he and Mikoto supposed to be fool. He suddenly talked with Touma "Eh? What are you doing here? And by yourself? Did you finish what you two were doing already?"

"Hmm? Ah, Misaka's went over there." Touma points the way. "Do you want to go and talk to her? She should be calm enough now to be able to talk to you." Unabara says his next word with a troubled look on his face. "No, don't bother her."

* * *

After chatting with each other for a bit, Touma discovers that Unabara Mitsuki's personality isn't that bad as he guess. Maybe because Touma think he as a spoiled rich guy, who happened to be the grandson of the director of Tokiwadai Middle School. Touma kinda glad that it turned out to be a mistake.

"So I feel Misaka-san should be clearer when saying whether she likes or dislikes someone. Ah, the answer to that question is 3." said Unabara as he helping Touma's homework. Touma then replied to him "It's 3… 3… Is it? But I feel she's fairly direct when it comes to her feelings. Once, I called her with her nickname that I gave to her before, and I got attacked by her thunderbolts because of that... well at least I won't use that name anymore... for now"

They kept talking about Mikoto while Unabara helped Touma with his homework. Thanks to him, Touma able to work his homework more faster...

_(Maybe going outside and involved in the mess isn't bad at all_.)

Finally one of Touma homework done, there is still some that need to be done, but he is better talking to Unabara first, trying to appreciate his help and thinking. "I understand. I'm afraid that if I hear refusal from her mouth, I wouldn't know how sad I would be. But…" said Unabara but he suddenly paused.

Touma's curiosity ticked off and he asked what Unabara wanted to say next. "...I still can't. I can't do something that I know would make her cry, and still forcibly take possession of her. If I can't let her obtain happiness, then there would be no point."

Touma wants to root for him in his endeavour, but unfortunately, he already knows the outcome, especially knowing it's about Mikoto.

_(Ahh, youth)_ thinks Touma as he sighs. To be blunt, Touma cannot help at all when it comes to a thing like this. Especially, after hearing these words that came from the bottom of Unabara's heart, Kamijou Touma doesn't know whether he should still put on the "act" to try and fool him.

Suddenly, from the side comes the sounds of footsteps. Touma slowly turns and looks at Mikoto, who's holding two plastic bottled drinks. She started staring with a shocked expression. "Hmm? What's wrong with you!" Before Kamijou finished asking, Mikoto strides out towards him, gesturing for him to stand up with her chin, as if to drag him away from Unabara. "Come with me for a moment!"

* * *

Rinnosuke still felt something weird about the boy (Unabara) after Mikoto dragged Touma away from him. Surprisingly, he felt the same in several of his 'weird encounter' with several people. Kei went home and he is the only one there to watch the boy. What he wanted to know now the boy's identity. Suddenly, someone poked him from behind and closed his eyes.

"Guess who?" The sound gave calm feeling to Rinnosuke's mind and heart unlike some people Rinnosuke knew, not even Touma able to do such thing. And from the voice, he could tell it's a girl around his and Touma's age. While smiling, Rinnosuke replied to the questioner "Haruna... It's been such a long time."

He opened his eyes and saw a pretty black long hair girl, who smiled at him.

"It's been a long time too, Rinnosuke-chan. You should stop do your bad habit." said Haruna as she winked at Rinnosuke. Rinnosuke knew that lie would be useless in front of Eris. Rinnosuke know her power very well as she is some people, who capable to make a Level 5 feel a very great deal of problem. "You seemed more mature than before... physically"

Rinnosuke laughed and replied her "Haruna ... You are a Tokiwadai Student, right?"  
Eris nodded and replied to Rinnosuke's next question... It really feel like she knew everything "Yes, that person is Unabara Mitsuki... However, I doubt he is..."  
Rinnosuke showed some bad expression then smiled to Eris' immediate answer

"I guess so..." replied Rinnosuke as he remembered Unabara's micro-expression after Touma and Mikoto leave together. He didn't show any sign of lie when he talked to Touma, but he know 'Unabara' was hiding something big and Touma should watch his back. "I would like to be with Touma and Mikoto a little longer... but... I guess they will be able to handle it."

"Mikoto? Is Mikoto with Touma now?" asked Haruna as she shows her excited face... There is also a glint of sad feeling. but she is capable to hide it very well. Rinnosuke, on other hand, feel so hot and wanted to kill Touma multiple times. What the reason... No one knows, even Haruna unable to read Rinnosuke that deeply. _**(****GRRR... TOUMA! SEEMS I CAN'T LEAVE HIM WITHOUT ANY LEASH...)**_

* * *

_(U-Ugh... what with this weird feeling)_ says Touma to himself as Mikoto kept calling him. "Oi Kamijou-san! Do you hear what I just say?" Touma looked at Tokiwadai girl in front of him and replied "I know... but... Can't you give..."

Mikoto stares at Touma and it manages to seal Touma for good time.

Mikoto wants to say something to him about Unabara. But her lips are tightly pressed; not a word is able to be emitted from it- even her breathing seems to stop. Kamijou Touma and Misaka Mikoto prolong the silence. After some time, Mikoto finally says, "You…"

Mid-sentence, Mikoto seems to change her mind and doesn't continue. She puts up a smile that says there's nothing wrong, but her eyes show a bit of loneliness- at least, that's what Touma is feeling. "Let's stop the act... Shall we?"

On other hand, Mikoto started struggling with her 'feeling'. She subconsciously feels that "that feeling" shouldn't be shown- no, it could even be said that there is a force inside her that absolutely cannot let "that feeling" out. This also means "that feeling" is so powerful that if she's not careful, it would erupt from inside her. Mikoto is trying with all her might to suppress "that feeling", which is running around inside her like steam in a kettle.

_(It's unbelievable.)_

Mikoto herself doesn't know what's going on, and can only suppress all thoughts before they leave her mouth. Mikoto now dimly realizes something. She always had thought she was someone special to everyone, no one who don't know who she is... But, it didn't same with this boy.

She always tried to get close to him and believed that her distance with this boy would closer that that of anyone else around them. If the boy had a list with the names of a thousand people and while he was browsing through it, he came across the name "Misaka", he should be slightly interested in that instant and look at that name a bit longer.

However, in reality, that's not the case. It's such a small realization, but it gives Mikoto's heart a large shock. Why something this small hurts her so much, Mikoto doesn't know- nor does she have a way to solve it. If possible, she really wants to run away. Mikoto wants to run away from this inexplicable pain so much.

But Mikoto can't do that. She doesn't know why, but she can't turn her back on him; she can't leave the boy and not come back. That would be very painful. Compared to the pain now, it would be a lot more painful. Because of it, she tell to herself about how stupid she is. And with that 'the smile' created.

"Let's handle that Unabara then..." says Mikoto. Touma immediately hold Mikoto's arm at it managed to make her slightly blush. She tried to surpress it. But, the boy seems not care about it. "Before that, there's something I wanna ask... about this answer"

_(What I'm thinking? I should know this idiot ... Uuuu)_ thinks Mikoto as she covers her face. Touma looks not care about Mikoto's situation at all and give her the paper. Mikoto frowns and her her expression goes serious after Touma passes his old Japanese homework and she found out that most of them were correctly answered. "Weird… all the answers are correct?"

Touma didn't understand what's going on and asked her "It's all true, right? But... Why you show that kind of expression?" Mikoto then continued while looking at Touma "Was he this smart? From what I remember, he shouldn't be this good."

Mikoto's word managed to confuse Touma once more. "His grades at school are indeed top of the class… but his ability is Level 4 Telekinesis, a kind of unseen power that can control objects from a distance." Since Touma is a Level 0, he didn't get any thing that Mikoto meant... but he can guess something wrong. "Does that have anything to do with his grades?"

"Of course it does." Mikoto crosses her arms and says, "According to Kuroko's 'behind-the-scenes' investigations, he actually got his grades through cheating. His method is to put a thin layer of his ability on the computer screen for the exam, feel the minute heat and radiation, and reverse-engineer the correct answer… Simply put, it's like a stethoscope. So, his grades and his knowledge have no connection."

"Uwaa…" Touma is speechless. He has heard of a special kind of machine that can measure the slight magnetic field released to decode the electronic flow of information. But for a human to be able to achieve the same thing really makes Touma surprised. But again, this is Academy City and it shouldn't be a surprise after all.

"How come you can just stand there and say it like it's nothing special?" asked Touma. Mikoto looks at him and admits something "It's not that rare, is it? As an Electromaster myself, I can do similar things- for example, stealing information from a credit card's magnetic strip." Looking at Mikoto saying it as if it's nothing special, the Level 0 Kamijou Touma can only choose to keep silent. That at least shows him differences between Power Level User.

* * *

Touma and Mikoto stopped for a while as they felt the heat that strike their skins and nerves. "Hot... this is final day of summer, yet the hot getting more stronger each day." complains Touma. Mikoto wanted to say the same, but she chooses to silent while looking for a fast food retailer. Too bad, all of them have long queues; guess they would be lining up for a while. Touma looked at Mikoto and said "Ah? We can just line up together, right?"

"Don't worry. I'm the one that dragged you into this, so I should be doing some of the more boring stuff." replied Mikoto as she winked to Touma and joins the queue. Maybe it's because this shop is exceptionally popular that many more come soon afterward, and Mikoto is lost in the crowd.

If he tries to force his way into the crowd to join Mikoto, it probably won't be good to the others around them, so Touma gives up on trying to go in and stays outside by himself. He suddenly see someone familiar get into the store in hurry. "Wait! Isn't that?"

"Oh! You are here..." called someone from behind. "Eh? Unabara? But, just now I ... Forget it. There's something I wanted to tell to you." Unabara in front of Touma shows a confused face and smiled after that. "Sure What is it?"

"... Ah! Thanks for helping me with my homework." Touma, who is standing on the hot summer sidewalk waiting for Mikoto, says this. In comparison, Unabara, in the same position, still manages to give off a cool atmosphere, smiles, and says, "It's nothing; I only did what I could with all my power."

(…'_with all my power'?)_

Kamijou feels that something isn't quite right. Unabara also feels a slight pause in the conversation and asks, "What's wrong?" Touma then continued, however... he is indeed feel something wrong with the 'Unabara' in front of him ''Mm… I want to ask you two things."

"Go ahead."

"Are your grades good?" Suddenly, 'Unabara' pauses before saying, "Ah, sorry, did I get something wrong on the homework?" Touma decided to ask next question "… Second question, Do you have t-" Before he asked the next question, his phone started ringing and it is from Tsuchimikado. "Humm... What is it all about. Please excuse me, Unabara."

Touma turned from Unabara and answered the phone "What is it, Tsuchimikado ? I don't have-" Unfortunately, the one he who phone him isn't Tsuchimikado, but someone who he is never expected

"TOUMA! BE CAREFUL THE UNABARA THAT YOU ARE TALKING WITH IS A FAKE..." Suddenly, the phone connection is over and Touma realized what's going on.

"It looks like nothing ever goes as planned... When you lie to deceive someone."

After Touma heard this, he know that he is too late...

* * *

"What's going on here?" asked Tsuchimikado as he looked at Rinnosuke, who sit on fallen tree trunks. Tsuchimikado can see the fallen tree trunks that hit several place. He looked at the damage and realized something I thought so... That person I saw before is... a magician. Seems his real target is Kami-yan...

Rinnosuke looked so angry, but kept his head cool as he explained everything happened to Tsuchimikado "And he is the one who attack us. He is lucky to hit my cellphone and immediately created distraction to escape. However, I already warn Touma. Hope he managed to handle that person"

"And... it's kinda good thing is Eris didn't see all of this. It gonna be a pain to explain everything to her" said Rinnosuke as he tossed his already-broken cellphone. "Next time, make sure recharge your cellphone before going out" as Rinnosuke tossed back the other cellphone to Tsuchimikado.

"Should we get that guy?" asked Tsuchimikado to Rinnosuke, but Rinnosuke seems not care at all and leave him. "Do whatever you wanted... I bet Touma gonna beat that guy for me." After he left, Tsuchimikado said something to himself "You say you don't care, but you really care... Heh. Time for me to do what I usually do."

* * *

_(Summer, the crowd, the heat… What a terrible combination.)_

_(Uuu… The air conditioner is on, so why is it still so hot!)_ complains Mikoto as she is still at the takeaway. Well... It can't be help after all, it's summer and she owe Touma for his help. As her patience run out, Mikoto decided to leave the place and go to another shop. But looking back, there's also a wall of people behind her. If she tries to go out now, she would also cause trouble for people.

Mikoto dryly laughs a few times. At this moment, someone pushes forcibly into the crowd from the back, amid the annoyance and displeasure of the people who moved aside like the tides parting. The person finally revealed and he is someone she's very familiar with. Unabara Mitsuki... However, he have some wounds on his body. As he falls onto the ground, Mikoto tried to help him. "Eh? What happ-"

"Run!" as the boy shows bloodshot eyes and yells crazily.

"Calm down, tell me what happened? Why you have your arm bandaged?" Mikoto said as she tried to calm Unabara down.

"Y-You won't believe what I'm telling you...t-there this person...suddenly attacked me..." He paused while trying to gasping some air and continues, "I couldn't do anything as he managed to knock me out. I wake up and found him holding something that guy said is an obsidian knife... he told me that he's gonna take care of you in my place and he peeled my skin..." His eyes then turned into a horrofying look, "H-He took the skin from my arm and then that g-guy turned into me! I-I managed to fake my death and then tried to find you after I recovered! YOU HAVE TO RUN AWAY FROM HIM!" He said before he fainted.

Several minutes later, An ambulance siren can be heard from the distance. Mikoto starts thinking, who is capable to do this kind of things. She doubt the attacker is ESPer from Unabara's description. That's leave her with one more answer.

"Magic... The one who do it is an outsider." said someone, who started approaching her. Mikoto surprise someone in Academy City able to say that word. She looked at the person and it reveals someone with silver short hair. "Eh... Aren't you? Rinnosuke? Touma's friend?" Rinnosuke nods and Mikoto decided to ask him "How you know about 'that thing'?"

Rinnosuke get what Mikoto worried about and shows his devilish smile. It creeps Mikoto for a few seconds before she snapped. There is a possibility that the one in front of her is 'the magician'. Rinnosuke shakes his head and explains "I have same problem with Touma in that area... That's the reason why I know it."

Rinnosuke pointed at thing behind him. A wrecked car... No calling it wrecked isn't correct at all... It more like "disassembled" and returned to its former state before being built."We better get to Touma _**A.S.A.P.**_. I bet that magician tried to kill him" Mikoto looked so worried and starts asking "Do you know where they go?" Rinnosuke shakes his head "I don't have any idea... But, knowing Touma... he will choose place where people not there."

Those two tried to guess which is the place and thfinally found them. 'Unabara Mitsuki' and Kamijou Touma are fighting inside half-constructed building. Mikoto decided to help Touma but Rinnosuke stopped her and tell her to watch the fight from a far. Mikoto looked so angry "How could you let that happened ! You are Kamijou-san friend, right?"

Rinnosuke just let out a sigh and looked at her with serious glare "Oi Girl ! Do you trust Touma or not ? If you trust him...keep your mouth shut ! Watch and listen what these two are fighting for !" Mikoto tried to fight back, but after see his expression and listen to his words, she decided to see what actually going on. As those two kept fighting, Touma managed to strike at 'Unabara Mitsuki' face and destroy the obsidian knife that kept sending something like laser.

Both Mikoto and Rinnosuke see 'Unabara' fake face fell off like a mask, showing a completely different face. At same time, the half-finished building collapsed, incomprehensible things coming one after another. Those boys stopped fighting for a moment and started talking. It's kinda weird, the distance between Mikoto and Rinnosuke with those boys are quite far... But how she able to hear what those two talking about clearly. Rinnosuke looks at her and just smiled before focusing his entire vision to the boys.

* * *

"Alright, now speak honestly," Touma says while panting. "Why did you transform into 'Unabara Mitsuki'?" 'Unabara' looked at Touma and finally response "Ha, even if I don't say it clearly, can't you understand it?"

"I know I'm not smart... But, transforming into 'Unabara' wouldn't help in attacking me. I even don't know him in first place. Do you after him to get close to Misaka? Is it because she's my friend, so you'd finish her off as well?" With boiled emotions Touma voiced his opinion and at same time, Mikoto feel some pain in her heart as she hear his words or rather 'a certain word'. Rinnosuke, on other hand, seems to understand what's going on.

"Answer me. I've heard that your transforming technique is by peeling off Unabara's skin; did you plan to do the same thing to Misaka? Misaka... Even thought, she ever contact Magic Side once... She still has nothing to do with the Magic side; why do you magicians want to drag her into this?"

'Unabara' finally talked with plain and emotionless words "Unabara should have been erased. But at the point of death, he used his esper ability… Telekinesis. He changed every particle in his body into a solid block, going into a false death– maybe cryogenic stasis is a better term. Stabbing his heart was like stabbing a frozen slab of meat; no damage could be done. Not even the 'Spear' could take him apart. I had no other ideas, so I could only tie him up and lock him in the room…"

Looks like this magician has done a lot of research on Academy City, using scientific jargon such as Telekinesis and cryogenic stasis. 'Unabara' seems a bit satisfied looking at Touma's face, and his voice gradually gains emotion.

"You ask what my _aim_ in coming here is? I didn't think that this would be your first question in this situation." Unabara seems to laugh at Kamijou from the bottom of his heart, and continues to speak. "Looks like you have no idea how dangerous your actions are."

Touma seems not understand what's 'Unabara' talking about, the magician can see this and decided to give him the pieces of puzzle "You don't just have the 103,000 grimoires of 'Index Librorum Prohibitum' in your possession; you also have magicians of the English Anglican Church, Tokiwadai's Level 5 Esper and all sorts of other people gathered to your side."

The magician says in a tone like he's laughing at himself, "The Magic side and the Science side were originally two worlds that could not coexist, but you are building an organization that incorporates both worlds. Yeah... that organization is 'Kamijou Faction'"

"Huh?" as Touma didn't understand what the magician talking about. He didn't even know what the heck is this 'Kamijou Faction'. But, 'Unabara' kept giving him the puzzle pieces "The 'Organization' that I belong to is afraid that a new organization like yours will destroy the world's balance of power. That's why I was sent here, though my mission in the beginning wasn't to transform into 'Unabara' or to eliminate anyone. I've only been in this city for a month, and transforming into 'Unabara' was also only a week ago. The original mission was just surveillance. All I needed to do was to make sure that the 'Kamijou Faction' has no influence to the balance of power, report to my superiors that 'there's no problem', and finish the mission."

The magician clenches his teeth. "But you are too dangerous! From the bits and pieces I've gathered, in just this summer vacation period, you've already destroyed several 'organizations'! Not only so, this 'Faction' of yours can't be bought off by money or controlled by brute force. The movements of the 'Kamijou Faction' depend solely on your own emotions and whims! With such a huge unstable power, how can those 'above' possibly leave you alone?"

Touma finally solves the puzzle. At same time, Mikoto so surprised to hear the fact, but she spent much effort to change the path of the steel beams that start falling. Rinnosuke could see that her emotions is the most in turmoil from those three. He kept focusing on the talking rather than helping Mikoto.

"Wait… that that means…"

"That's right. My target isn't just the person known as 'Kamijou Touma', but all members in the 'Kamijou Faction'. At this point, even if only you are killed, the bonds between the various members can't be dissolved."

Touma see everything now. This magician tried to make internal collapse. Methods employed by spies have brought down countless dynasties throughout history. Even regimes that look robust can fall abruptly. A kind king can suddenly turn into a tyrant, manipulated by aides in the shadows. Because of the efficiency of the method and its cruelty, myths about foxes and demons have been born in some countries.

"I was going to leave you last, but I guess it can't be helped. As the mask of 'Unabara Mitsuki' has been found out, I'll have to borrow your 'face' next !" as Unabara charges at Touma. At same time, Touma open his eyes and charge to 'Unabara' "Like I gonna let it at all !"

Both boys started exchanging blows to each other. After some blows, 'Unabara' fall again. Touma starts talking breathes and talk to him "Even though it's a cliché line… I thought we could've been friends." 'Unabara' immediately reply without hesitation. "That thought has never crossed my mind. Not at all."

"It's a shame, really such a shame." Touma sighs and says, "So the thoughts about Misaka that came from your mouth are also false. Only this point makes me feel that this is such a shame… because now, this gives me a reason to beat you to a pulp." This sentence freezes the air. A silence colder than darkness envelops their surroundings.

The magician seems to have said something in a soft voice. Before Touma even had time to frown, he repeats once more, "Can't a fake have those kinds of thoughts?" The magician grinds his teeth and says, "A fake can't wish for peace? Does a fake not even have the right to have the thought of wanting to protect Misaka-san? AM I SO DAMN WRONG!"

* * *

Mikoto shows a surprise expression on her face... For a moment, the talking managed to distract her mind and almost make the metal rod strike them. Rinnosuke looked and started thinking. He can understand why Unabara attacking him after Rinnosuke managed to uncover him. But, there's something bugging him... Why he let him live? And Rinnosuke finally come to a single conclusion. "I see... So that's it, huh... Mikoto! This battle will concluded soon." Mikoto, on other hand, give Rinnosuke a confused look.

* * *

The frightening sound of the collapsing building is now tossed to the back of Touma's mind as he stares at the magician's face. And, it makes Touma remembering one of his 's a man named Tsuchimikado Motoharu. When he first called himself a spy, his casual demeanour really made an impression on Touma- but the truth wasn't that simple. Tsuchimikado paid a large price, risking the danger of going against his orders in exchange for his freedom.

Unlike him, The magician in front of him now isn't willing to take that risk. It's because he knows clearly how much of a coward he himself is that it's harder to quench his anger. He hates Kamijou who destroyed his dream, but he hates himself more for not being able to protect his dream. That's the thoughts of that magician.

Touma thinks that he (the magician) must also fight with all his strength. Touma can live his life freely, with nobody to restrain his movements, and can protect whatever he wants to protect at any time. 'This Touma' must bring a lot more pain to the magician. In the magician's eyes, Kamijou Touma radiates so much dazzling light that he can't look at him directly.

He let out a sigh after hear everything from the magician's mouth. Including, his feeling to Mikoto. If he really want to help the magician in front of him, then there is only one way "I see... Then! I'll have to kill that fantasy of yours."

Steel beams fall down like raindrops, but neither Touma nor the magician look up or try to retreat. They only clench their fists and charged, attempting to shrink the distance between the two to zero in as little time as possible! Touma's fist impacts the magician's face. The magician from the start doesn't seem to plan on dodging; he unhesitatingly grabs Touma's chest with both hands, and slams him to a wall.

He then use both of his hands to strangle him. To escape, Touma kicks the magician's stomach and it works well. Maybe because the magician was relying on magic too much and didn't train his body that he doubles over after the kick. Suddenly, a huge sound erupts from the steel beam stabbing down next to Touma. What's more, another steel beam strikes onto that beam, resulting in a sound like a church's bell ringing.

"This is bad! If we kept fighting in this place, we will be buried alive" said Touma but the magician slammed Touma body and tried to punch him again. Touma kicks him once more to escape and rolls from there. Then, Kamijou Touma and the magician glance at each other after they realized steel rods that gonna strike the magician.

Facing the rain of steel beams, the magician doesn't seem like wanting to dodge it. He only smiles- a slight, lonely smile. He understands clearly that even if he wins this battle, he won't get anything from it. At same time, Kamijou Touma starts thinking... he has no duty to save the magician and he won't be blamed by anyone for leaving the enemy for dead.

_(But… Even so…)_ Touma tries to grab the hand of the magician who's still on the ground. He tries to help him. The magician shows a shocked expression, and it makes Kamijou Touma even more annoyed. He knows it's already too late, but he still clenches his teeth. A large amount of steel rods drops down from the sky, shaking the whole place. But, before the steel rods arrive to them... Something happened.

"Well, that's a useful thing you do Mikoto...though I expecting more from you." Rinnosuke whistles as he witness Mikoto save the two teenagers from their doom using her powers.

"Well sorry for not living up to your expectation" huffed Mikoto as she decided to get near the two guys who's fighting earlier which she saved.

"Oh well, I think I'll handle that dense porcupine next time... Oh and here's your burgers." Rinnosuke decided to leave but not until he passes the burgers Mikoto has ordered for herself and Touma.

Mikoto received the burger and witness Rinnosuke disappear. She ignores it and approaches the two silently only to stop as she heard the conversation between the two.

"…Haha." In the middle of all the commotion, Touma smiles half-heartedly with a steel beam planted between his legs. Around him are countless steel beams, surrounding Touma make a small cottage that seriously flawed in design and with a roof that's full of holes. The steel beams have a delicate balance, as if they would crumble if blown by a breeze. But anyway, Kamijou Touma escapes the fate of being buried alive.

He knew it isn't luck as he is worst in that aspects... But, he didn't care it as he decided to wake up and approaching the magician. One of the magician's hands is stuck in the gap between two steel beams. Though the magician's hand wasn't crushed, but instead stuck in a natural gap, it's like a super-heavy handcuff was put on him. With this, he won't be able to escape. He is stunned for a few moments... maybe thinking how lively he is.

After a while, he finally says, "Did I lose?"

"I don't know, I didn't create this situation." Touma says this while scratching his head. The magician just shakes his head. No matter the reason, he now can't even move an inch; fighting on in this situation is impossible for victory. "Guess it's my loss." The magician smiles slightly. "That way, my part in all this comes to an end. I don't have to kill Misaka-san, or kill anyone else now, right?"

"What's your name?" asked Touma to the magician. The magician looked at Touma and asks "Eh? Why do you ask?"

"Why you don't want to tell it? You don't have to chase Mikoto anymore, right?" One sentence from Touma manages to calm him down and the magician finally replies "Etzali. I'm from 'Return of the Winged One'" Touma nods and looks at Etzali's condition "Well... Even I can't remove this" Etzali just smiles and continue "I think…"

The magician paused for a moment before says a warning, "The attacks won't just stop here. One failure by a small fry like me won't be enough to convince the 'above' to give up. Instead, this will make them even more sure that the judgement of 'Kamijou Faction is very dangerous' is correct. My allies might appear next to you or Misaka-san; in the worst-case scenario, I might get the same order again."

Kamijou Touma silently listens to the magician's words. "Can I ask you to protect her? ... No matter where, no matter when, no matter who your opponent is, no matter how many times, as long as something like this happens, you'll have to be a hero and go to her side to protect her. Can you promise me this?"

It's what he dreamed of but can never bring into reality. It's his dearest wish, but he doesn't have a choice other than to give the opportunity to someone else. And then… Kamijou says something before he nods

"That's the worst possible answer," the magician lying on the ground says lightly while smiling.

Mikoto shakes her head vigorously after hear the last sentence that came out from Touma's mouth. she held the paper that contained the burger so tightly until it crushed. Her head that's shaking vigorously to deny this. Even though she knows she can't get the wrong idea, her head unable to stop. Mikoto leans her head on the wall behind her. She knows that she's blushing bright red without having to look in a mirror.

* * *

_(I… I can't misunderstand! I must be getting the wrong idea! His words definitely don't have those meanings to it! He's that kind of person; it's not like he's treating me as someone special!)_

_(It's really unforgivable)_ Mikoto thinks. After hearing that kind of conversation in this situation, what kind of expression is she going to have when she walks out of here?

Especially the last sentence Kamijou said. _(_…_I know I'm misunderstanding, but the way you said it is too easy for it to be mistaken otherwise, you big idiot!)_

Mikoto sighs. She doesn't know how long it'll take for the blush on her face to finally subside.

* * *

"Nya~ It seems all already over like 'he' say" as a certain magician come to place where Touma and Etzali fight. He sees Touma, who seems surprise to see Tsuchimikado there. "T-Tsuchimikado? What are you doing here?" Tsuchimikado shows his usual cat smile and replies "Don't worry... I will take care him"

Touma looks at Tsuchimikado and doubts him for a moment, he gives up and agrees Tsuchimikado's help. It's actually due several reasons.  
First, he must meet Mikoto, who probably angry and still waiting for him.  
Second, His summer homework. Compared to everything, the one that gonna impact his life is the later. He didn't want to get blame by his teacher and ended make her cry. His life would be end if her fans know it. Even Touma still regular human.

"Thanks, Tsuchimikado! I leave Etzali to you!" as he started running back to store where Mikoto, probably waiting for him. At same time, he swears he saw someone starts running away from there. It might be my imagination...

After Touma left, Tsuchimikado looks at Etzali "I have an offer for you..." Etzali, who is no condition to fight back, decides to listen to him.

* * *

**Meanwhile,**

**Somewhere in Cairo, Egypt.**

Cairo, the capital city of Egypt. Once the site of a famous uprising against the corrupt government has changed into one of the advanced city in the known world though not as advanced as Academy City. But it also a place where they also trained ESPer according to the Academy City curriculum though still hasn't achieve the level Academy City has achieved.

At a local bank in a certain city of Cairo in Egypt, business are still continued as usual but the usual day to day business is interrupted with a bang. Gunfire is heard inside the back as 5 robbers equipped with AK's and Galil stormed the bank and threatened everyone inside the bank, "ALRIGHT! ALL ON THE FLOOR NOW!" One of them while firing his rifle on the ceiling, which make everyone fear and immediately lie down. He then looks at the rest of his gangs. They prepare to grab every money they can get and as usual, one police vehicle manages to arrive on the scene.

"Fuck! Is the Police! Get all the people into the safe and locked them there!" One of the robber ordered while he curses and began to fire at the oncoming Police vehicles. This make the arriving police officers to take cover and returned fire. The rest of the robbers moves the hostages into the bank safe room and locked them there.

One of the police officer notices that the robber used Assault Rifles and heavy weapons which are better than the police. "Great, those maybe the terrorists tried to grab more money...we can't storm in like this! Call the Enforcer now!" orders the police officer to his partner which immediately radioed in.

**A few minutes later,**

"Alright! We got what we came for! Let's get out of here before they called those damned ESPers!" as The lead robber give orders to his men. The rest nod and immediately head to the front entrance where an escape vehicle just arrived to pick them up. Before their escape vehicle suddenly flipped and crashed into the front entrance and exploded, luckily most of hostages are inside the bank safe room when the explosion happened.

"Oh crap...that is not good." One of the robber mutters as he saw their escape vehicle exploded into flames. Then a teenage boy appears from the destroyed entrance, he's wearing a white school uniform with a red tie but is covered with a bulletproof vest with an armband depicting the symbol of a crossed swords and a star ontop of the swords, the symbol of this particular countries Law Enforcement officer, the Enforcer.

"Alright, while you have your chance to live...please surrender peacefully and you guys will not be harmed." The person orders as electric current is visible on both of his arms. The rest of the robbers didn't say anything until their leader finally said, "IT'S A FUCKING ESPER! OPEN FIRE GODDAMN IT!" As he raises his rifle. The rest followed suit and opened fire at the teenager but then the teenager is engulfed in a shield formed from iron particle which stopped the bullets.

After they finished fire, the iron particle shield dissipates and the boy just sighed and fixed his eyeglasses while saying, "Oh well, I guess the answer are No...It seems I have to do this." He then took out a bullet which has no casings and flipped it while his hand are charged with electrical enegy and immediately fired at one of the robber which immediately vapourized by his attack.

The rest of the robbers saw the fate of one of their own and then looked back at the boy which without any warning nor foretelling, dropped their weapons and raised their hands up. The boy chuckles and said, "Now that's easy right?" he then shouted at someone at the back, " Alright boys! They surrendered!". Several SWAT units entered and immediately apprehend the robber and confiscated their weapons while another unit opened the bank safe to found the hostages alive and secured.

After cleaning up, the boy then finally approaches the lead SWAT officer to give final report on the situation. "Morning sir, we got two casualties which is two of the robbers at least while no one injured." He said to the officer.

The SWAT officer then just chuckles and said, "Well, at least no innocent died today...as expected of you Agent Reza." He patted the boy who's name is Reza, the only Level 5 in his country with the power of an Electromaster. "All in the days work officer. Glad to help." Reza said as he laugh together with the SWAT officer.

Then the Officer said to Reza, "Well, I got a call from the President wanted to see you urgently."

"My Father?" Reza blinked then he continued, "Well if it's that important, then I have to leave. You got everything under control?" He asked the Officer.

"Oh don't worry about that Agent Reza, we will handle this...we are the Police aren't we?" He said and Reza just smiled and leave the scene.

* * *

**Presidential Palace, Cairo**

The Presidential Palace which is Cairo and Egypt administration center situated on the outskirts of the city itself. There is nothing grand about the Palace itself as it's architecture is purely simple and the decoration is just enough only to impress foreign dignitaries. It houses the Egypt's President named President Hussein Ali Hamid, once a researcher and an exiled political opponent of a certain dictator but returned after a revolution toppled the previous ruler and has been chosen by the Egyptian people through democratic process. It's because of him, Egypt has become prosperous with scientific research and religious enlightenment propelled Egypt to become one of the influential country in the world.

Reza arrives at the Palace and greeted by his father's aid which leads him to his father's administration office. Inside his father's office, he saw another man accompanying his father in a conversation before both men turned to see Reza arrived at the office.

"Peace be upon you father, did I interrupt something?" Reza said as he noticed his father with another man.

Hussein chuckled and said, "Peace be upon you too, you're just in time son. You do remember Mr. Tabikake Misaka?" He said as he introduced a man in his 40's.

"Uncle Tabikake? It's been awhile, how's Mikoto doing?" Reza said as he shake hands with Tabikake.

"Yeah, it's been awhile too Reza. I heard you are a Level 5 now, congrats. As for Mikoto, she's doing fine...for now." Tabikake said with a slight concern in his voice.

Reza asked, "What do you mean for now?"

Reza's father, Hussein explained while giving his son a dossier, "Well we have some...disturbing development about our neighbour...the Vatican Catholic Church, it concerns a faction which beginning to grow in Academy City. According to our intelligence, this is concerning about the Kamijou Faction. The faction which Science and Magic co-existed together." The last explanation make Reza thought about something.

"Kamijou Faction...ah I've been briefed about that. Well, the higher ups in both Enforcer and those in the Imam Council deemed that faction is not a threat." Reza said while looking through the dossier.

Then Tabikake said, "Well not for several Magic Organization in some part of the World. I'm feared that my daughter are also involved in this."

"Mikoto involved? Well that's surprised me...why?" Reza became confused. Tabikake decided to explain the situation as he take a sip of his drink made by Hussein "You see, my daughter is involved with the leader of this Faction, named Kamijou Touma. From what I heard, that boy has an unusual power."

"Unusual?" Reza asks. Now he starts to get interested in this Kamijou guy.

"A power to negate any supernatural power, be it ESPer or Magic. Even the Board of Directors in Academy City has taken a keen interest in him and his faction...That's why I'm here to request your help to look after my daughter and to observe this boy named Kamijou Touma." Tabikake said as he put his hand on Reza's shoulder.

"I guess that means that father will transfer me to Academy City I presume?" Reza said while looking at his father. Hussein nodded and said, "The paperwork has been made...with the help of Tabikake of course. I know you want to meet Mikoto right?" Reza chuckles and replies, "Well, part of it...but I'm also interested in this Kamijou Faction. Well count me in...but what will happen here if I'm gone?"

Hussein just patted his son's head and said, "Don't worry, we have other ESPErs in the Enforcer right? They'll be more adequate to handle everyday serious cases."

"I guess I'll have to take your word for that father...I'll go and pack my stuff." He said before leaving the office.

After Reza leaves, the two old man began continue their conversation. Rather than serious tone, it's more like talks between fathers about their children "Well, seems your son grown mature." Hussein starts laughing "Mature? No, he still have a lot to learn. Besides, he's young."

"Anyway, thank you for helping me. I don't know whom to asks anymore." Tabikake said with a tone of relief.

"It's what friends for, besides I'm owe you one after that disaster at the Sinai Desert." Hussein smiled as he pours another drink into Tabikake's cup. Tabikake takes a sip and laughs, "But I had to admit, your coffee is the best I had taste so far. I think I'll stay here a bit before I go with my work."

"Take your time! Tabikake, we will have a long talk anyway." Hussein said and both laughed wholeheartedly like a close friend.


End file.
